Devil Ärms: LegendS
by Harouki
Summary: A young man enters the world of magic...it's a coincidence...right? A retelling of MSLN StrikerS with some original characters. OCxCC pairing. Search for Devil Ärms: StarS for the sequel!
1. Prologue

Prologue

Hah~ A nice day today…no more damn tests for two weeks, only anime and games for me! For starting now it is the beginning of Winter Break! Winter Break…it is the sanctuary for students who have nothing but work upon work on their hands.

"Don't you mean for lazy people like you?"

Looking over my shoulder, I see a girl wearing our school's regulation female uniform as well as a non-regulation blue ribbon tied into a bow to hold her hair in a ponytail. But then, I shouldn't note about non-regulation stuff…my collar is loose, I didn't button up my jacket and my tie is…well not here.

"Enough with your monologue of clothing already…" she said

"Did you need something, Kobayashi?" I asked her.

"Oh right, do you have any plans after this? You wanna go karaoke?"

"Sorry, but I plan to spend tonight by myself, so maybe some other time."

"That so?" She looked a bit disappointed but it passed. "Well, don't let anime become a big part of your vacation. You need a social life as well you know."

"I don't need it," I replied instantly. "Having a social life is overrated until after college."

Kobayashi gave me an exasperated look and sighed. "That's an expected answer from you I guess," she said as she shook her head and shrugged at the same time.

"Kasumi-chan!"

A group of girls called her from the doorway. She looked up and called back to them. "Anyway, don't waste too much time in front of the computer and stuff. See you later."

Kobayashi Kasumi…we've known each other since we were kids…but unlike in anime and stuff…neither of us have any inkling for a romantic relationship with each other…such a shame right?

Well it's time for me to get going as well. I picked up my bag and headed home. On the way I stopped by a fried katsu stand and bought some to eat. Life in this city was pretty normal. I have two awesome parents who are okay with my hobbies, I live in a nice house, crime isn't a major issue here, the neighbors are friendly…life was…almost perfect…so perfect that it was almost a little boring.

The sun was setting to my left, a nice blend of red, orange, and yellow streaking across the sky. I sat down along the side of the road and stared up into the sky with a katsu in my mouth.

Man…if I knew I was going to be bored, I would've gone with Kobayashi…second thought…singing my heart out in a room full of only girls? Actually that'd be pretty funny…

But too late for that…I guess its not so bad…lying on the grass, looking into the sunset with some food to eat. Just wish I had a little more excitement in my life though. As I continued to watch the sky change from the red side of the color spectrum to the other side I noticed something circling above me.

It was a crow. It circled around me over a dozen times now. I rolled over a bit to show that I wasn't a dead body but it continued to circle me. All of a sudden it dived down towards me. I yelled and rolled away as it landed where my head was before. As it turned towards me I noticed something in its beak. It hopped towards me holding its beak out.

"Are you giving it to me?" I asked it and it just hopped closer to me. I held my hand out and it dropped a glove. It had a pretty interesting design. It was black and had a green cybernetic theme with designs like a motherboard all over it. I put it on my right hand on impulse and it fit quite nicely.

"Oh~ this fits nicely," I said as I looked at the crow. It cawed and flew onto my shoulder. Looks like I made a new friend.

"What are you doing here?"

I looked behind me to see Kobayashi standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Yo; karaoke finished early?" I asked her. My eyes suddenly darted to the thing on her shoulder. A dove. "You have a bird too?"

"Hmm? 'Too?'" She looked to see the crow on my shoulder.

"Hey…you didn't get a glove or anything did you?"

"Eh? I did…" she raised her left arm and showed me a white glove with red cybernetic designs.

Before we could do anything else, a loud explosion came from above us and the birds started flapping their wings and calling like crazy.

A large aircraft appeared above them and objects were being dropped from it.

"What's going on? WHAT IS THAT?"

Kobayashi was screaming hysterically as I followed the objects with my eyes. They're people? And they're moving towards us?

Next thing I knew the scenery changed to a dark color. The grass the water even the building lights were dimmed.

The people landed around us pointing something that definitely wasn't friendly at us.

"This is the Time-Space Administration Bureau! We have you surrounded!" The voice came over a loudspeaker from the aircraft above us.


	2. Chapter 1: Devil Ärms

Author's Notes:  
Well, this is my first FanFiction on this site, hope that it will be received with open arms.

Disclaimer: I do not own any characters associated with Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, but i do own the original characters and such.

* * *

Hah A nice day today…no more damn tests for two weeks, only anime and games for me! For starting now it is the beginning of Winter Break! Winter Break…it is the sanctuary for students who have nothing but work upon work on their hands.

"Don't you mean for lazy people like you?"

Looking over my shoulder, I see a girl wearing our school's regulation female uniform as well as a non-regulation blue ribbon tied into a bow to hold her hair in a ponytail. But then, I shouldn't note about non-regulation stuff…my collar is loose, I didn't button up my jacket and my tie is…well not here.

"Enough with your monologue of clothing already…" she said

"Did you need something, Kobayashi?" I asked her.

"Oh right, do you have any plans after this? You wanna go karaoke?"

"Sorry, but I plan to spend tonight by myself, so maybe some other time."

"That so?" She looked a bit disappointed but it passed. "Well, don't let anime become a big part of your vacation. You need a social life as well you know."

"I don't need it," I replied instantly. "Having a social life is overrated until after college."

Kobayashi gave me an exasperated look and sighed. "That's an expected answer from you I guess," she said as she shook her head and shrugged at the same time.

"Kasumi-chan!"

A group of girls called her from the doorway. She looked up and called back to them. "Anyway, don't waste too much time in front of the computer and stuff. See you later."

Kobayashi Kasumi…we've known each other since we were kids…but unlike in anime and stuff…neither of us have any inkling for a romantic relationship with each other…such a shame right?

Well it's time for me to get going as well. I picked up my bag and headed home. On the way I stopped by a fried katsu stand and bought some to eat. Life in this city was pretty normal. I have two awesome parents who are okay with my hobbies, I live in a nice house, crime isn't a major issue here, the neighbors are friendly…life was…almost perfect…so perfect that it was almost a little boring.

The sun was setting to my left, a nice blend of red, orange, and yellow streaking across the sky. I sat down along the side of the road and stared up into the sky with a katsu in my mouth.

Man…if I knew I was going to be bored, I would've gone with Kobayashi…second thought…singing my heart out in a room full of only girls? Actually that'd be pretty funny…

But too late for that…I guess its not so bad…lying on the grass, looking into the sunset with some food to eat. Just wish I had a little more excitement in my life though. As I continued to watch the sky change from the red side of the color spectrum to the other side I noticed something circling above me.

It was a crow. It circled around me over a dozen times now. I rolled over a bit to show that I wasn't a dead body but it continued to circle me. All of a sudden it dived down towards me. I yelled and rolled away as it landed where my head was before. As it turned towards me I noticed something in its beak. It hopped towards me holding its beak out.

"Are you giving it to me?" I asked it and it just hopped closer to me. I held my hand out and it dropped a glove. It had a pretty interesting design. It was black and had a green cybernetic theme with designs like a motherboard all over it. I put it on my right hand on impulse and it fit quite nicely.

"Oh this fits nicely," I said as I looked at the crow. It cawed and flew onto my shoulder. Looks like I made a new friend.

"What are you doing here?"

I looked behind me to see Kobayashi standing there with her hands on her hips.

"Yo; karaoke finished early?" I asked her. My eyes suddenly darted to the thing on her shoulder. A dove. "You have a bird too?"

"Hmm? 'Too?'" She looked to see the crow on my shoulder.

"Hey…you didn't get a glove or anything did you?"

"Eh? I did…" she raised her left arm and showed me a white glove with red cybernetic designs.

Before we could do anything else, a loud explosion came from above us and the birds started flapping their wings and calling like crazy.

A large aircraft appeared above them and objects were being dropped from it.

"What's going on? WHAT IS THAT?"

Kobayashi was screaming hysterically as I followed the objects with my eyes. They're people? And they're moving towards us?

Next thing I knew the scenery changed to a dark color. The grass the water even the building lights were dimmed.

The people landed around us pointing something that definitely wasn't friendly at us.

"This is the Time-Space Administration Bureau! We have you surrounded!" The voice came over a loudspeaker from the aircraft above us.


	3. Chapter 2: Crash Course

Author's Notes:

Well Chapter 2 is here...a little late...but I'll try to update at least once a week...  
At least i know people are reading...but i wonder if i am doing a good enough job...this chapter is a little "meh" to me right now...how about leaving a review if you like this?

* * *

Chapter 2: Crash Course

Be-be-beep, be-be-beep, be-be-beep, be-be-beep!

"ARGH!!"

I awake to the most annoying sound a person can ever hear in the mornings…an alarm clock…what the hell is such a thing doing on an inter-dimensional space ship?

I look over at Kobayashi…what the…she's already doing her hair?

"Good morning," she said when she noticed I was awake.

"Good morning...yeah right! What the hell are you doing setting an alarm for…" I glance at my cell phone and let out another yell. "5 AM!?"

"Sorry, I wake up at five every day, so I guess I forgot that I set the alarm," she explained.

I let out a huge sigh as I stretched my arms out. Man am I stiff…guess I'm can't sleep very well on any bed other than my own.

Growl

Man…I'm hungry…wonder where the cafeteria on this place is. I slipped my shoes and headed to the door.

"Where are you going?" Kobayashi asked.

"I'm gonna look for something to eat. Wanna come with?"

"I guess…"

She slipped her shoes on and we exited the room.

-

"…"

"…"

"Hey…"

"Don't say it…"

"But…"

"Don't say it!"

"Just ask for directions already…"

"I know what I'm doing…"

"Seriously! What's with men and asking directions?!"

Sigh…this place seemed so much smaller yesterday…probably because we had a guide. The two of us have been walking around this blasted ship for about two hours already…I'm getting pissed off.

"What are you two doing here?"

I turned around to see Chrono coming out of a door.

"We were trying to find a place to eat, but this idiot got us lost!"

"OW!"

Kobayashi explained while smacking me in the face.

"Hahaha, don't worry, I'll be happy to show you to the cafeteria."

"Really? Thank you very much!" Kobayashi grabbed my by the back of my head and forced me into a bow as she bowed as well.

"Don't worry about it. The two of you are guests."

I feel a little bit more than pissed at my uselessness at this moment…

Over breakfast we were explained what is going to happen over the next couple of weeks.

"The truth about the two of you will have to remain a secret from people outside this ship. Therefore you will receive aliases and we will have to treat your Ärms as regular intelligent devices."

I shoved a fried egg into my mouth and washed it down with some coffee as I listened to the Admiral.

"So we can't tell anyone about these gloves…and these birds?" I asked looking at my hand and then at the crow…that seems to be pecking at my eggs…wait…wouldn't that make it a cannibal? Hang on are these even birds at all?

"Correct, the Ärms are high class confidential information within the TSAB, therefore no one else is allowed to know of its existence." Chrono said sipping on his own coffee.

"Um…why would our names me classified as well?" Kobayashi asked holding a fork in her mouth.

"As I said last night, the Devil Ärms are extremely dangerous, we have to take every security precaution possible to keep them and you safe. People might try to locate your family on earth if they knew who you are."

"I see…"

A crewman walked over and handed Chrono some documents, which he laid down in front of us.

"These are your 'official' military papers. Your names and history have been altered so please memorize as much as you can in the case that someone will ask about you."

I picked up "my papers" and read through it carefully. I am now Ensign Kurosawa Kuro…how fitting I guess…to my black and green armor that I wore last night…although it sounds a bit unrealistic…

I am from earth and have been part of the TSAB Naval forces for a year and was promoted to ensign early on in my career and hold the status of a B rank mage. My family is currently missing and I claimed to have joined the TSAB in search of any clues…well I guess that would keep people from knowing who I really am…

I peeked over Kobayashi's shoulder to see what her new name was at least.

"Hashimoto Hikari?" I read out loud causing her to shriek and slam her elbow into my cheek.

"GAH!" the force knocked me backwards and off of my chair.

"Ah! Are you okay?" Kobayashi asked as she pulled me up.

"Yeah…that was totally my bad…"

As I pulled my own chair up and sat back down at the table, Chrono was smiling at us.

"You two have a very nice relationship," he said.

"That's because we've been friends since forever," Kobayashi said as she sat back down.

Ah…friends…always have and always will be. I don't think we'll ever be anything more than that. But that is fine with me.

BweanBweanBwean

The lights in the room started to flash red as an alarm sounded throughout the entire ship.

"What's going on?" Chrono shouted through the comm. on the wall.

"We have multiple unknowns approaching the ship at high speed! Total count: 40!"

"Put a visual in the cafeteria monitor!"

"Yes, sir!"

A huge screen just popped up at the edge of the table and I saw a whole mess of something that resembled small jet fighters.

"Gadget drones," Chrono muttered as he turned to the two of us.

"Ensigns Kurosawa and Hashimoto! I am placing the two of you under my direct command for the time being. I was hoping to let you get used to your new powers in a few simulation battles first but we are just going to have to dive into it at this point!"

I turned to look at Kobayashi…uh…I mean "Hashimoto"...ah screw it, I'll call her Hashimoto when we're in public and Kobayashi when its just the two of us.…who was looking back at me. The two of us nodded, stood up and saluted Chrono.

"Understood Admiral! We will follow your orders!" we said with a firm resolve. There is no going back for us now.

The two of us stood on the inside of the ship's airlock all geared up and ready to go. Since the two of us have swords as weapons, the only way to destroy those things was to get in close and personal…I wonder if I can fly despite only having one wing, even Kobayashi is looking uneasy about it. Well there's only one thing to do…

"Ready?" I asked.

"Yeah…"

The door opened and we jumped out of the ship into the wind. I thought I was going to go plummeting but I was able to glide along side the ship.

The vast blue sky flying over a large green land, it was a beautiful scene if I wasn't about to go risk my life saving this ship…

"Kurosawa! Hashimoto! Get to the front of the ship and prepare to defend against the gadgets! Watch out for fire coming from our land base mages firing from a top the Claudia." Chrono ordered from the Claudia's bridge

"Roger!"

We maneuvered our way through the cross fire, slashing down any of the gadgets we could reach. But they're way too fast and even if I could hit them, most of the time the blade gets reflected by some kind of field. By the time I we arrived at the front, I only managed to take out three of them…and Kobayashi got only one.

"Darn it! I can't hit anything with this bulky sword!" she said as she missed another gadget. "I need a bow or something!"

"Oh right, you were in the archery club weren't you?" I asked as we landed on top of the Claudia to take cover from incoming fire.

"Yeah…and its hard to break though that field using just brute force…"

She's right…I need something that I can use at a distance…I don't care if it's a something like a bow or not, just something that I can THROW would be good as well.

"Yes, My Lord!"

My right hand began to glow as I heard Shinken speak again.

The sword in my hand slowly split into hundreds of tiny blocks and rearranged itself, and as they reconnected it took the shape of a large spear.

"The long blade of wind! Shinken! Spear form!"

"H…I mean Kuro! How did you do that?" Kobayashi asked completely bewildered.

"I don't know…I just kinda…wished for it?" I said shrugging my shoulders.

"_I am Shinken my lord. The true blade that takes no single form. The sword of the devil that reflects the heart of its master."_

"_And I am Rho Aias, the ultimate shield to defend my master. My form shall reflect your heart's desires!"_

"I see…well then!"

The sleek silver sword that she was holding shrunk in length and width to about 30 cm. Then two blades of light shot out from her gloves and formed into a solid sheet of metal. She then held the blade along side her arm between the metal sheets and turned her arm sideways.

"The sonic cross! Rho Aias! Arrow form!"

She pulled back the arrow and shot it straight into the mass of fighters. What happened next completely blew my mind away…more than it was when I realized I had a freaking nuke on my hand…

The clouds split like the red sea did in those old religious tales, leaving a blazing trail of light and heat in its path.

"First shot, Sonic Flare."

What the hell? It suddenly feels like a desert up here! I could see my sweat drip down from my cheek and then immediately evaporate as it hit the ship's hull. Even the fighters were blowing up in mid air…she took half of them out in one shot!

"All TSAB forces! Return inside the ship! The temperature is too dangerous to continue!" A retreat order from Chrono…

"Sorry, Admiral! But we need just a few more minutes out here!"

I grabbed my new Shinken and flew towards the gadgets. The weight of the spear is considerably less than the sword as it is more spread out…however the mass remains the same!

"Blade Impulse!"

With the new speed, I was able to get right up to the gadgets and break their barriers with no problem at all. The heat has died down as well as all the gadgets.

"Enemy signals neutralized! The Claudia is safe! Changing from code red to code yellow."

"Great work you two," Chrono said as I slumped down on top of the ship.

"Agh…I'm burning up…" My sweat was dripping out like I came out of a bath. "Damn it…Hashimoto…give a warning…before you…want to…fry people…"

I noticed I wasn't the only one. A lot of the other mages were gasping for their breath as well.

"Sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't really know what I was doing!" She said as she bowed down repeatedly.

"Haha…anyways all forces return to the ship."

-

"It's not fair that you didn't feel that heat wave…it was a sauna out there…"

"I'm sorry…but…"

She was walking quite a distance away from me…

"Is it MY fault I'm sweating like a pig?! Was _I_ the one who decided to mess with the climate?"

"No…but you do…smell…like…you've been playing in the sewer…look like it too…"

"I hate you…"

"I love you too."

Sigh…I can never win against her in these arguments…

We were led to the bridge, where Chrono was. He was clapping his hands when we entered the room.

"Congratulations on your first battle," he said. "Although I am a bit confused at how the Ärms suddenly changed in the middle of the attack like that…"

"They said that they took on whatever form we wanted them to…so I guess they could really end up looking like anything," I replied.

"But there are probably limits to it…nothing is without weaknesses."

Chrono thought for a minute before sighing. "Anyway, for the time being we are going to put the two of you to practical use."

"Beats sitting in a lab and being observed…I guess," I said scratching the back of my head.

"Yeah…but not by much," Kobayashi said.

"Don't worry, the people we are sending you to are friends of mine. They'll take care of you and teach you how to use your devices better than we can. But remember, you can't let them know anything."

"Yes, sir!"

"Good. Now…uh…Kuro?"

"Yes?"

"Why don't you…uh…hit the shower?"

"GOD DAMN IT!! IT ISN'T MY FAULT!!"

* * *

Author's Notes:

Hahahaha I love making fun of "Kuro" wonder what his real name is...I wanted to see how far i could go without ever naming him but as i planned it out further, it would prove way too hard. So i'll pull a haruhi and just give him a nickname that starts with "K" X3

Remember leave a review or at least put this on alert to let me know i'm doing a good or bad job...sigh...


	4. Chapter 3: Section Six

Author's Notes:

And Chapter 3 arrives a little later than I expected. Only 1 review which unfortunately contains harsh criticism since then, huh? /

Well, I'm sure it will pick up eventually, as we are now at the important part. My story has merged with the anime...finally X3

* * *

**Chapter 3: Section Six**

After a nice hot shower, I slouched my way to the cafeteria in a new uniform that was provided for me by the crew. It fits fine…but the color really bugs me…guess that's the color they use for the ground forces, since everyone on else on this ship is wearing blue.

As I sat down at the table with my food I started to think about earth and stuff. Sigh…I'm glad this unnatural thing happened and all but I wish it didn't have to be during winter…break…

"AH CRAP!! I DIDN'T GET A CHANCE TO SET THE VCR TO RECORD MY ANIME!!"

My complete and utterly random outburst that would make no sense to aliens has made me become the center of attention in this cafeteria.

"Sorry, nothing to see here. Go back to your lunches!"

Man…why did I have to go fooling around after school…why didn't I just go home first? Sigh…I blame the katsu…it's the katsu's fault…those damn breaded-fried beef are out to get me…

"Having trouble with your life passion again?"

"This sarcasm…only one person can hold this annoying sarcasm when someone is in mourning over the lost of his passion…"

"That line has so many comebacks aimed at it, I'll need to use Rho Aias to let mine hit first…"

"Smart ass…"

I raised my head up to see Kobayashi sit down in front of me…whoa my head was only 2 cm away from my mashed potatoes…that would have been messy yet completely perfect punishment for myself. But then…I don't want to take another shower right after that last one…

"You are so dramatic about it…anime is great and all but you need a social life too!" she said as she started to eat.

"Having a social is overrated until after college; it's the rule of society," I replied shoving some mashed potatoes in my mouth.

"Can't you at least eat sitting up?"

"No"

She let out a huge sigh as she continued eating.

The loudspeaker chimed to signal an announcement. "Attention all crew members. We have reached our destination and will be landing shortly."

"Oh, we reached our new home already?" I asked sitting up straight.

"I really want to know how you are able to remain so calm about all of this?" Kobayashi asked.

"Aren't you right now?"

"I am far from being calm! You just accepted the Admiral's words so easily that I had no choice but to go along with you! Is this an anime influence? Even with these gloves! I'm not even sure how I knew what to do!"

"Well, Chrono said that they merge into our DNA, so maybe its like DNA memory or something?"

"Is that really possible?"

"After flying at the same speed as a giant air cruiser, turning a sword into an arrow, and changing the temperature with that arrow…you honestly think something like that can't happen?"

She looked at me with half closed eyes before saying, "Hearing that from you makes me feel very stupid…"

"Really? Thought you already knew that about yourself," I said as I started to cut my steak.

"Why you!"

I hear a loud crack and I feel my chair give away from underneath me, causing me to fall face first onto the table with a large crack.

"AGH! MY NOSE!"

Damn it hurts…geez; I need to remember that she's scary when she's pissed off.

"Stop screaming and finish eating, we have to meet the people we are going to be working with for the next few weeks."

Ugh…now who's acting calm while the other is freaking out?

-

After disembarking from the Claudia, we took a shuttle to a different base. I was kind of expecting to meet our new coworkers after the landing, but apparently they were in the middle of something, so we have to meet them at their HQ instead. Chrono had already notified them about our admittance into their unit.

"We're here," Our driver said as the doors of the shuttle opened to let the two of us out.

"Thank you very much," Kobayashi said before getting off while I just nodded my head to express my gratitude.

As we got off the shuttle, I noticed some people talking in front of the main building. They were standing around a car and seemed to be talking to the driver.

"Do you think those are the people we are supposed to meet?" I asked Hashimoto.

"I guess so…let's try asking them then," she replied.

The car pulled away as we got close to the entrance and

"Are you Kurosawa-san and Hashimoto-san?" the brown haired woman asked us.

"Yes ma'am! Ensigns Kurosawa and Hashimoto reporting for duty! Place us under your command Captain Takamachi."

The two of us practiced this while we were on the shuttle over here. I didn't want to seem like a lax person…at least…for a first impression anyway.

"Now, now…there is no need to be so formal. Just Nanoha-san is fine," She replied with a smile. So instead of appearing lax…I ended up appearing stiff…great…

"Understood, Cap-…no Nanoha…san," Hashimoto said softly.

"Understood…Nanoha-san."

"CAW!"

The crow, that had been silent all day, suddenly started screeching in my ear.

"Ow! What is, Ken?"

Why is its name Ken? Because I hate coming up with names for things so I just took name from the Ärms' name. I looked over at where it was looking at to see…is that some kind of alien winged lizard? It was flying over a small kid who looked away when I looked at her.

"Oh right," Nanoha-san said as she brought her fist down to her palm in realization. She then turned to the others and started to explain. "These two will be joining Section Six from the Naval Forces. Please treat them well."

"Yes ma'am!" they replied.

Hmm…I guess staying here could be a pretty enjoyable experience, and not like those boot camps you often see in movies…wait…they can call her "ma'am" but I couldn't?

-

"So how did you guys get sent over to Section Six?"

We had moved to the mess hall as these guys have just finished an apparently rough training regiment, based off of the dirt and mud on their training uniforms. I was eating along with the group. as I was still kind of hungry, while Kobayashi just sat there listening to the conversations occasionally staring at me with a look that said, "You're going to get fat."

The person who asked us this question was Subaru Nakajima, code name Stars 3.

"We were transferred over by Admiral Chrono Harlaown from the fleet," Kobayashi said as she hesitantly decided to fill her plate with some of the noodles that was sitting in a large pile in front of us.

"Seriously…our unit sure has a lot of connections," said Teana Lanstar, code name Stars 4. "Weren't our Captains childhood friends?" She asked this towards the only person at our table that was currently wearing the ground force uniform, besides Kobayashi and I, Shario Finieno, who everyone calls "Shari".

"That's right. Nanoha-san and Commander Yagami are from the same world," She paused to take a bite out of some bread before continuing, "and Fate-san lived there when she was younger."

"Fate-san…?" I asked.

"Oh that was the person who was standing next to Nanoha-san when you showed up," Subaru said.

"Oh, I see. So which planet was it?" Oi…it sounds so weird to say "Which planet." Normally it'd be which country or something…I'm going to have to get it in my head that I'm on an alien world surrounded by aliens who look like humans…the most dangerous kind…

"If I remember correctly, it is Non-Administrated Planet 97," the only other boy at this table, Erio Mondial, code name Lightning 3, said with a full mouth.

"That's right," Shari confirmed

"My father's ancestor's seem to have come from Planet 97," Subaru said as she put a giant pile of noodles on her plate again. Geez, she has such an amazing appetite.

"Is that so?" Erio asked as Subaru loaded his plate as well.

"Yeah."

"Now that I think about it," the girl with the flying lizard that I now understand to be a dragon, go figure, Caro Ru Lushe, code name Lighting 4, began. "Your name is pronounced like Nanoha-san's, the same with Kuro-san and Hikari-san. Are you two from there as well?"

I take it Planet 97 is Earth so I guess it is okay to say yes. I don't recall the falsified files we received prohibiting it.

"Yeah, I think Nanoha-san probably came from the same region as we did," I said as I looked over to Kobayashi who nodded. Okay at least she doesn't think there was anything wrong with saying that either.

"Eh" Subaru was staring at us with interest. "My father said that he hasn't even been there before so I don't really know much about it."

"It's pretty much like this world, except the technology is not as advanced," Kobayashi answered as she drank some of her soda.

"Oh right, where were you from again Erio?" Subaru asked.

"Oh I was raised at the main office," he answered simply.

Everyone suddenly looked surprised all of a sudden.

"The Bureau's main office? Like the housing complex?"

"The Main Office's Special Protection Facility. I was there until I was eight."

Wait like as in an orphan? Guess that would explain everyone's reaction.

Teana was throwing Subaru a very sharp glance and Subaru returned it with a nervous look.

"Um…please don't worry about it!" Erio said quickly, probably reading the very cold and awkward atmosphere. "It was nice there and I lived a normal life."

"Normal" is kind of a relative term around here…I don't consider little kids running around with weapons, _legally_ and for the military normal.

"Ever since then, Fate-san has been your guardian, right?" Shari asked quickly.

"That's right. She was always around for me and even taught me some magic once in a while when I started to learn it. She's always nice to me and I still think she's raising me in a way. I heard that when she was young, some family problems left her pretty lonely. That's why she cares for children so much. She herself was saved by warm and kind hands."

"…"

Listening to Erio's speech made me appreciate my parents for being around for me.

"Um, I've been wondering about this for a while now but, what are those birds on your shoulders?" Subaru asked Kobayashi and me. "Is it a familiar like, Fried?"

We looked at each other and then the birds before answering.

"I guess so," Kobayashi replied as she stroked the dove's feathers.

"Can they transform into a bigger version of themselves?"

"I hope not, then this thing would crush my shoulder…AH!" As I said that Ken few off my shoulder and swiped my bread from my hand. "Oi! Get back here or you're fried chicken you stupid crow!"

"Kuro! Don't make a scene!" I heard Kobayashi call from the table.

"No way! My pride won't let a bird steal from me!"

"They don't get along well do they?" Teana asked Kobayashi as I chased that damn crow around the mess hall.

"I think it's a love-hate relationship…"

-

After we finished eating, I stretched my arms up above my head and let out a huge yawn. "So what's next?"

Almost two seconds after I said that Nanoha-san came back.

"Good, you're all finished," she said clapping her hands. "Well then, let's get back to training."

"Ouch, you have to get back to training after you just finished eating? Good luck."

"What are you talking about Kuro-kun?" Nanoha asked. "You and Hikari are coming with us. We need to determine your strengths for the team."

"GEH?"

Damn, well I should have expected this…

"Yes ma'am…"

I suddenly have this weird feeling that something bad is going to happen…

-

"Well then, Kuro-kun, Hikari, please release your weapons without your barrier jackets," Nanoha-san said once we were on the training area. She was talking to us through a monitor that just appeared in front of us. Man, magic is convenient…but what's wrong with cell phones?

"Understood."

We raised our hands up and my spear and her bow appeared. I was kind of expecting the sword, but I guess we have to manually change it back when in use.

"The terrain will be a city structure and your objective is to destroy the target points located somewhere in the area. We will use gadget drones as the enemy defense. Your time limit is ten minutes, good luck."

"Hey…Hashimoto."

"Yeah?"

"No using that heat arrow thing okay?"

"Why not?"

"Just don't…"

"Fine, let's move before we waste anymore time."

We decided to split up. She was going to higher ground to cover me as I plow straight through the enemy units. A basic tactic but, with only the two of us its all we can do. It was easy, but…

"These things are nothing compared to the aerial ones, don't you think?" I asked Kobayashi through the comm.

"Yeah, they're basically still targets, despite their shield they put up," she said as I saw 3 flashes of light fly over me and crashed into 3 gadgets, destroying them.

I noticed something in the building next to me.

"Hey, Hashimoto! Check the building to my left! Around 3 floors up!"

"Roger! Target point spotted! Hyper Arrow…Shoot!"

I barely saw the shot. It came flying straight into the building and completely destroyed the floor.

"Target destroyed! Continuing with the mission!"

"Kuro! We're not playing a game here!"

"Come on, just getting into atmosphere! All right you metal maniacs! Time for the real action to begin!"

Dodge left…right…duck…and…thrust! These things are too slow, it was a good thing we fought those aerial gadgets before we got here, else I'd have no clue what I'm supposed to do.

"Kuro! I've just destroyed another target point, one more and we're done!" Kobayashi said as I heard another explosion in the distance. She works fast…

"Can you see the last one?"

"Yes, but it's in my blind spot, and it would take too long to relocate myself."

"Understood, is it nearby?"

"Around 300 yards to your left at the next turn and two floors up!"

"Okay! Leave it to me!"

So I said…but as soon as I turned the corner, I was showered by enemy fire.

"Oh crap!"

_My lord. We only have a small shield. Use your speed and power and break through._

"Yeah, I know!"

A small circle, emphasis on the word _small_, appeared in front of me and deflected some of the shots, but I still had to avoid most of them.

"Nevertheless! It's enough to give me an edge!"

Using the shield I was able to lower the area I had to focus on.

_My lord, leave the shield to me._

"I intend to! Let's go, Shinken! Blade Impulse!"

I rushed straight into the mob and slashed them all in two.

"Not too shabby, if I say so myself," I said as I brushed my shirt off.

"Kuro! We only have thirty seconds!"

"Where is it?"

"On the second floor!"

I rushed toward the building but there weren't any entrances on my side.

"Then let's cut the whole thing down!"

I concentrated on the second floor and felt a gust of wind surround the spear in my hands.

_Tempest Blade!_

"Attack!"

I Jumped up into the air and swung the spear with all my might, releasing a huge shock wave through the air into the building.

As I landed back down I relaxed and rested the spear across my shoulders. "Game set."

The building started to slowly slide to the left for a moment before it came crashing down upon itself. And as it did, a chime rang throughout the area.

"Just in time."

"Geez…can you cut it any closer?"

"Any closer and I would have been crushed by the rubble."

"What are you? …That wasn't what I was talking about!"

Our argument was cut short when Nanoha-san's face popped up on the monitors again.

"Good job you two…although you could have toned down the destructive spells," She said with an uneasy smile.

"Sorry, I had this incredible urge to show off I guess," I said as I scratched the back of my head. Truth be told, I didn't even know how I did that.

"That is fine and all, but please restrain yourselves when on missions."

"Yes ma'am."

"Then without further ado, Kuro-kun will become Stars 5, and Hikari-chan will be Lighting 5. Kuro-kun will assist Subaru at the front and Hikari-chan will be in the rear providing artillery magic support."

…So we're going to be on the opposite ends of the battle when deployed? Well I'm sure we'll be fine.

"Well now the rest of you, head to the training area as well, we will start the evening training course now."

Huh…more training? She doesn't look like it, but Nanoha-san really drives these kids hard.

"Hey you two, hurry up!"

A small red headed girl appeared on the monitor and shouted at us.

"A kid?" I asked looking at her.

"KID? I'm Second Lieutenant Vita, your second in command you idiot!"

Wow…I think I really pissed her off.

"I'm sorry ma'am!" I immediately replied as I gave her a salute.

"Whatever! Just move your butt!"

Geez…she's like the polar opposite of Nanoha…Stars 2, Vita, is it? I hope this doesn't leave a lasting negative impression on her…but seriously…what's with all the lolis?

"…Well…who's complaining? Not me."

I mean, what man in their right mind would complain about being surrounded by girls? …Wait…they all probably could kick my ass and most of them are too young…but technically this isn't Japan…so…I wonder what the laws are for minors and majors?

"How many times do I have to tell you? Get your butt in gear!"

"I'm sorry!!"

-

It was nighttime now and training hours were over.

"Okay. That's enough for today, get some rest all of you." Vita said.

"Okay" we replied gasping for our breath.

"And Kuro…you might want to get some ice for that…"

"I don't want to hear it…ow…lieutenant…ow," I replied scornfully.

She did it on purpose…she completely did it on purpose…she seems like the type to hold a grudge…damn it!

I was training with Subaru and the lieutenant to increase my proficiency as a frontal attacker, but during the training, one of Vita's magic spheres "misfired," as she so clearly described it, and nailed me in the…"lower than the waist yet higher than the knees" area. To top it off, Subaru's device "Mach Caliber" was hit by it too while she was charging at Vita and she accidently slammed my face with her Revolver Knuckle. My cheek is throbbing and it hurts to talk.

"Thank you for your hard work!" everyone but me called out to Nanoha-san and Lieutenant Vita as we headed to the housing complex.

-

"Sorry about that, Kuro-kun," Subaru said for the hundredth time.

"Don't…ow…worry…about it," I mumbled. "Yeah, I'm sorry too…" is what I really wanted to say though.

"Are you going to be okay, Kuro-san?" Caro asked, looking at me shyly.

"Yeah…maybe…"

I really wanted to say, "Hell no! I just got nailed 'where the sun don't shine' by a sphere going 70kmph as well as smashed in the face by a metal glove!"

"Don't worry, this guy has balls of steel, he'll be over it in the morning," Kobayashi said smacking me on the back.

Kobayashi…I'm going to hurt you so badly…tomorrow…if I can remember…what happened…screw this…I just want a bed…pain and hurt…

* * *

Autor's Notes:

Yes, yes, "Kuro-kun" does have his troubles doesn't he? I never had a main character be the "joke" character before so it's pretty fun to write him like this. Sorry about the boring part where they're just eating and getting to know each other, but it was in the anime so meh

Anyway, I will attempt to get another chapter done this week. Please leave reviews and alerts! I don't wanna feel left behind X(


	5. Chapter 4: Hotel Augusta

Author's Notes:

Short Chapter, but then I'm following the anime now and this one focused a lot more on the officers rather than the rookies, so..not my fault

* * *

**Chapter 4: Hotel Augusta**

A few days after that…"memorable" training session, Section 6 has been deployed as a defense force for a hotel in the southeast area of the capital. Commander Yagami and Fate-san have managed to gather data on who is manufacturing the Gadget Drones are.

Jail Scaglietti, a dimensional criminal with a wide-range warrant for illegal research. A typical mad scientist-type character is it? Well, I don't think any body in their right mind would go up against an entire army that spans across dimensions…

We were heading to the scene in a transport helicopter assigned to Section 6. All the Stars and Lightning squad members were here except for the sub-commanders as well as a large wolf-like animal, commander Yagami and another blonde woman.

Ah, I better pay attention to the briefing.

"And the hotel we will be heading to today is this one, Hotel Augusta," a floating miniature human said as she pointed to the monitor. Master Sergeant Reinforce Zwei was what her official name is but the commanders called her "Rein" for short.

"Guarding the auction of antique museum pieces and protecting the people there, that's the job for today," Nanoha-san explained.

"Some of the items up for trade are Lost Logia that have been approved to be traded. So there's a large possibility that the Gadgets will appear mistaking their signals for Relics. That's the reason we were called here for security," Rein continued.

Relics are a type of Lost Logia that are shaped like crystals. The gadgets seem to be collecting them for Scaglietti, and who knows what that psycho wants to do with them.

But, issuing a private military unit for security, not to mention one containing famous heroes, is a little…degrading I think is the word for it. Course I don't have the right to speak my mind on this. Orders are orders after all.

"With an auction as large as this one, we believe there may be some smuggling deals going on," Fate-san added. "You need to keep your eyes out for anything suspicious."

"We already deployed some people to watch over the area overnight," Yagami-san said as the monitor switched to show some mug shots. "Such as Sub-commander Signum as well as Sub-commander Vita."

"Gah!" I let out a small yell, which I hastily turned into a cough as everyone looked at me. Oh god…please tell me her grudge has subsided…I just finished healing…

"Anyway, the three of us will handle the inside of the building," Nanoha-san said as she cleared her throat. "The rest of you will follow the Sub-Commander's orders outside."

"Understood!" We all replied in unison.

Damn…I wish I was in the Lightning squad instead of Stars…

Caro raised her hand up as she asked a question. "Um, Doctor Shamal," She addressed the person sitting across from me. "I've been wondering about it for a while, but what are those boxes?"

"Hmm? These?" Shamal asked looking at the cases near her feet. "They are the captains' work clothes." She said with a smile.

Work clothes?

-

Ah work clothes are nice…

I burned the image of the captains in their formal dresses before they entered the building. They all have such nice figures…

All the remaining squad members have split up. I was to patrol around the entire perimeter of the building while everyone just stood guard at certain checkpoints. Why do I have to do the most work?

I started to hum a song in my head as I did my patrol. I ended up at the rear of the hotel where I saw Teana standing guard. We haven't spoken much at all despite being in the same squad, but I noticed she works the hardest out of all the recruits in Section 6. She seems to be sighing quite a lot…I wonder what's on her mind.

Ah no…got to stay focus, else fear the punishment that is in the shape of a sphere again…

-

"Each of the front line members, confirm: The setup is a wide-range defensive line," Shamal-san's voice rang through my comm. "Along with the command center, Long Arch 1's general command, I will take command of this scene."

"Stars 5, understood!" I replied as I headed to my designated point. I noticed a red and purple light fly out of the building. YES! Vita's not around to scare me!

"Hashimoto! How's it looking up there?" I asked as I activated Shinken and the barrier jacket.

"Vice-captains Vita and Signum along with Zafira are engaging the gadgets at a distance well away from our defensive line," she replied. "They might not even get close to the hotel."

"In a perfect world maybe, but not in this one. Stay prepared just in case."

"Right."

"Oh and who's Zafira?"

"That familiar you called a wolf back on the chopper."

"Oh…right…"

-

I was watching the action along with Subaru and Teana from a monitor that Shamal had sent to Teana.

"Whoa! The sub-commanders and Zafira are amazing!" Subaru said as she watched the explosions from the monitor.

"You know you could just look from the front of the building if you want to see the explosions," I said as I tried to change the viewing on the monitor.

"And this is with their power limiters active?" Teana muttered softly. She sounds…upset for some reason. I looked over at her but she was looking down at her hands and not the monitor.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked her.

"Yeah, I'm okay…"

I suddenly have a bad feeling about this…

"Kuro! We got a problem!" Kobayashi's voice rang through my ears.

"Ow! Calm down! What is it?"

"What's going on, Kuro-kun?" Subaru asked.

"There was a huge magical response on Doctor Shamal's radar, and the gadget's movements are becoming more efficient," I explained as I grabbed my spear. "Looks like we're going to see some action after all."

"Let's meet up with Erio-kun and Caro right away," Teana said as we started running to the front of the building.

As soon as we got there, the Gadgets started to literally pop up from the ground.

"Is that a summoning circle?" Erio asked

"Summoners can do this too?" Subaru asked Caro.

"All talented summoners are experts in transportation magic as well," she replied quickly.

"Either way, get ready to engage," Teana ordered.

"I'll provide artillery support from the roof! Be careful not to go too crazy down there or you'll be caught in the line of fire!" Kobayashi said through the comm.

"Yeah!"

And so this is where the fun begins.

-

"Come get some!"

These Gadgets were more maneuverable than the ones used in the training exercise, but they weren't as fast as the aerial types. Piercing through them was a piece of cake.

"Kuro watch out!" Teana called out.

"Huh? Oh crap a missile!"

But before I could dodge them Teana managed to shoot them down.

"Whew, thanks for the…behind you!"

She managed to dodge the shots in time and return fire, but it wasn't enough to destroy them. Their use of the barrier seems to be more refined as well…

Shamal continued to relay orders and information to us.

"Keep up the defensive line just a bit longer. Sub-Commander Vita will be there shortly."

"We can't just focus on defending! I'll sink them all!" Teana declared as she loaded her device, Cross Mirage, with more shells.

"Oi! Don't over do it there Teana!" I said as I split open another gadget only to see a huge version of it take its place. "Big Gadget!" I jumped back to where Teana, Erio and Caro were as quick as I could as it shot a barrage of lasers where I stood a second before.

"It's okay. I've been training all day and night for this."

She then turned to the rest of us.

"You guys head to the center, Subaru and I will take them out with a two-top formation."

"O-okay," Erio said.

"Hang on a moment," I said quickly. "Isn't that little risky? Why not just wait until Commander Vita gets back?" I can't believe I just said that…

"Don't worry this will work! Subaru, Closed Shift A, let's go!"

Subaru who was riding through the air on her Wing road flew over the bulk of the enemy forces.

"Oi! Wait a minute!"

But they ignored me and continued with their formation. Subaru was distracting them while Teana was charging up her magic bullets. Wait…something doesn't seem right…I don't think her arms should be sparking up so much…

"I'll shoot…Cross Fire…Shoot!"

She released her entire barrage of charged up magic bullets at the Gadget, completely annihilating them. However…she was shooting like a madman. Okay, I _know_ that isn't safe.

"Subaru! Get out of the way!"

One of the shots missed a gadget and headed straight for Subaru's path. Oh no! She's not going to make it!

Thankfully, at the last second, Vita came out of nowhere and knocked the bullet back towards the ground with her hammer.

"Whew…" I breathed a sigh of relief. Hmm? Why is there a round shield in front of my waist? Oh…looks like the Ärms really do evolve from experience…nice.

"Teana, you idiot!"

Huh? Sub-Commander Vita was yelling at someone other than me? Wait, now's not the time to be thinking about jokes!

"What are you doing, shooting at an ally on top of being reckless?" Wow…she's really pissed off.

"Umm, Sub-Commander Vita, that was supposed to be a combination of sorts, and…" Subaru was trying to defend Teana but Vita was hearing any of it.

"Don't be an idiot! That was heading straight for you! And you Kuro!"

Eh? Me too?

"Why didn't you stop your squad mates from doing something so reckless?"

"Oi! That's not fair! I _tried_, but they didn't listen to me!" is what I want to say, but I don't want to get them into any more trouble, nor piss her off any more.

"No it wasn't their fault! It was mine and…"

"Shut up both of you! You've all done enough. Subaru! You and Teana get the hell out of here and stay out of everyone's way! Kuro! Butt in gear and follow me!"

"Y-yes ma'am…"

As I flew up to her I gave one last look at Teana. She looked like she was in shock…

"Teana…" I mumbled before following Vita to take out the rest of the Gadgets.

In moments, all of the remaining Gadgets were reduced to scrap metal.

"Okay, that's the last of them. Yeah, guess you're right…" Vita said as I touched down next to her. She wasn't talking to me…maybe one of the other Sub-Commanders.

Kobayashi, Erio and Caro came up behind from us, and Vita turned to them.

"Where's Teana?" I asked, casting a sideways glance at Vita.

"She and Subaru are at the back of the hotel," Erio replied.

"Hmm…"

I wonder what the lieutenant is thinking right now…more than that…how's Teana doing? I hope…she's okay.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Hmmmmmm...am i supposed to write something here?


	6. Chapter 5: Painful Lesson

Author's Notes:

Being a graduate student sure is boring...sure school sucks and all but its boring to just sit around and do nothing all day. Well at least I'm about to land a small part-time job as well as write my fan fic. We are at episode 8 of the series right now. Things are about to get messy. Let's hope Kuro can keep his squad together before he gets pounded to oblivion by them.

* * *

**Chapter 5: Painful Lesson**

Teana came back to the group a little bit before Nanoha-san and Fate-san finished their security detail inside the hotel. Damn, they changed back into their Section 6 uniforms…

"The Investigation Division will be taking care of inspecting the scene, however I want you all to help them with it," Nanoha said as she looked at her clipboard. "Stay on standby for a while, and if there's nothing else, we'll head back."

"Understood."

"Now then…Teana."

Subaru and I both recoiled a bit and gave a worried look a Teana who was standing a bit behind us.

"Why don't we go for a walk?" Teana looked at Nanoha-san in surprise before nodding her head.

I watched them walk away from the investigation site before I started to pick up the scrap metal for the investigative division…damn it, why can't the others just make a hole in them like I do instead of obliterating them?

Teana came back a few minutes later, looking slightly better than she did before. Guess Nanoha-san let her off easy.

"Tea!"

"Teana."

Subaru and I ran up to her as she lifted her head up. "Subaru…Kuro…"

There was a short silence as we looked at each other before Teana continued. "I'm sorry about everything."

Subaru shook her head and replied, "Don't worry about it."

"Yeah, Vita can't hate me anymore than she already does so it's no big deal," I joked as I patted her on the shoulder causing her to smile slightly.

"Um, did Nanoha-san get mad at you?" Subaru asked nervously.

"Just a bit."

"I see…"

"But it wasn't as bad as Vita's yelling right?" I asked.

"No…"

Subaru looked around a bit before continuing. "Tea, it's okay if you want to rest a bit, we'll do your share of the investigation."

"Hey! Don't make me do paperwork after picking up the remains of the gadgets that _you_ blew up into a million pieces!"

Teana smiled a bit more.

"After screwing up that much, I don't want to slack off," she said. "Let's do it together."

Good, it seems like she's okay now; now to continue with the cleanup.

As I lugged half of one of the larger gadgets back to the investigation group, Signum's handiwork no doubt, I noticed Nanoha-san talking to a man. Oh, this looks interesting. I quickly looked around for a spot to hide. I set down the gadget and hid myself behind the trees and tried to listen into their conversation.

Hmm, there is a pretty good atmosphere between them.

"I wonder if today was a coincidence," Nanoha-san said beaming at the man.

"Well, I did hear that Mobile Section 6 was guarding the auction from Inspector Acous," he replied. "He was the one who asked me to appraise the objects on display."

"I see."

Hahaha, by their conversation, they seem to have known each other for a long time. They started to catch up with each other on their previous adventures with each other. Wow, the great Nanoha-san was acting like a schoolgirl with him. I can tell that they aren't going out, but it seems like they do have feelings for one another.

Yikes, I better get away from here before I get caught. I carefully picked up the gadget again and ran.

A few hours later my comm. started to ring.

"Okay," It was Shari back at Long Arch HQ. "To all Section 6 frontline members, its time to go. Please gather up!"

"Roger!"

-

When we got back to base, we were given the rest of the day off. Good thing too, my arms and back are aching after all that heavy lifting and piercing, those barriers are bad enough, but through their armor itself was tough as well.

"Man, that was an eventful day wasn't it?" I asked as we walked back to the housing complex.

"Eventful for you maybe," Kobayashi said. "I just stood up there and helped Doctor Shamal with intelligence."

"I was wondering about that, when the two of you were doing the training exercise, you seemed to know where the targets were pretty easily," Erio said.

"Ah, that's because of the arrows I shoot," She explained. "Some of them send out something similar to a sonar when it collides on the ground. So basically I can look for things just by shooting an arrow near them."

"Wow, that's pretty useful!" Caro noted. "Were you in the intelligence department at one point?"

"Uh…yeah I was."

Teana, who was walking ahead of the group suddenly stopped.

"Subaru, Kuro, I'm going to go train by myself for a bit," she said softly.

"Self training?" Subaru asked. "Then I'll go too!"

"Ah, then me too!" Erio said raising his hand.

"Me three!" Caro did the same.

Where the hell do these people get all their energy? Well, they have been at it longer than me…damn it I feel inferior…I mean these girls and 10 year olds are more energetic than me…am I getting old?

"You were told to rest, right?" Teana asked the kids. "You two go relax. And sorry Subaru, but I want to do this myself."

Subaru looked a bit disappointed as she nodded her head. She walked away from us as we just stood there watching her enter the building alone. To me, it was if she was building a wall to keep us out of her feelings. There's got to be a reason for this.

I asked Subaru about it after she and Caro got out of the bath.

Teana's parents passed away when she was at a very young age, so her older brother, and only sibling, Lieutenant Peter Lanstar took care of her afterwards. He was basically an elite, being part of the City Aerial Defense Force. Unfortunately, when Teana was ten, her brother was killed during a case where he managed to injure a wanted criminal but they managed to get away. And even though they were eventually arrested, the damned pencil pushers back at the Capital City Aerial forces accused of being 'useless and a failure' saying that he is 'supposed to risk his life, even sacrifice it, to make the mission a success'.

"What utter bullshit," I muttered as I slammed my fist on the table where Kobayashi, Caro, Erio and I were listening to Subaru. "If that really were the case, then nobody would even be alive."

"Kuro!" Kobayashi hissed in my ear. I looked up at the others who were staring at me.

"Sorry…carry on…"

"Yeah…so that's why Tea wants to prove it," Subaru said. "That the magic her brother used and taught her isn't useless. That it can do the job no matter what along with the dream that her brother died; she wants to become an Enforcer for the sake of accomplishing his dream."

"So that's why she tries so hard," Kobayashi muttered.

I took in the information as much as I could. I know one thing at least. Teana should let people help her rather than doing everything by herself.

"I'm going to go for a walk," I said as I stood up from the table.

As I made my way through the hallways of the building, I thought over Teana's story. I feel bad about getting a third party's version of the story. I should have asked her directly.

I saw a small flash of light coming from outside the building so I took a look out the window and saw Teana practicing. How long has she been doing that? Hmm…even if it's a little…I think I can help her out.

I quickly ran to the cafeteria and got my hands on some drink and snacks. As I hurried to the door I collided with someone who was turning the corner.

"Whoa! Sorry about that," he said as we pulled each other up.

"No, that was completely my bad," I said as I picked up the bags.

"Throwing a party somewhere?" he asked.

"Not really…hey you're the chopper pilot right…uh…"

"Master Sergeant Vice Granscenic."

"Sorry, I'm really bad with names."

"Don't worry about it. So where's the party at?"

"I said it's not a party. I'm just getting stuff for Private Lanstar. I don't think she's had anything to eat all day."

"Need to look out for your fellow rookies, huh?"

"I may be a rookie in Section 6 but I do outrank you, sergeant."

"Haha, touché."

We became friends pretty quickly. I guess he's just an easy-going guy in general.

Teana was still at it when we arrived.

The two of us started clapping when we were close enough for her to hear us.

"Seriously, do you know the meaning of the word moderation?" I asked her.

"You've been at it for over four hours, you'll collapse at this rate," Vice added.

"Sergeant Vice and Kuro…were you watching?" Teana asked as she stopped.

"I saw you from the window."

"And I saw some flashing through the helicopter's scope while performing some maintenance checks."

I reached into my bag and threw a bottle at her.

"Prolonged physical activity without rest and pushes you to your limits will leave you dehydrated," I said.

"I know it's tough having a misfire during a mission and sharpshooting is not something you can't achieve without lots of practice," Vice said as he leaned on a tree and started pulling my snacks from the bag. "But picking up bad habits like forcing yourself to practice isn't a good idea."

The two of us looked at him with curiosity.

"How do you know so much about sharpshooting? And hands off my snacks!" I asked as I swiped my bag back.

"Nanoha-san said it a long time ago. We've known each other for a while," he explained as he opened the snack bag.

But Teana wasn't listening to us.

"But if I don't over train, I wont get better," she said as she started training again. "A normal person like me…"

"A normal person, huh?" Vice and I asked each other.

"From my point of view, you're rather skilled, you know? Enough to make me jealous." he added.

But Teana was already focused on her training.

We both sighed as I put down the food at a base of a tree.

"Well, we won't get in your way any longer. But you should worry about your physical health." Vice said as we started to head back.

"It isn't much but please eat something soon as well." I added.

"Thank you, but I'll be fine," she replied without looking at us.

Vice and I looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders and sighed at the same time.

As we headed back in the housing complex, I am disappointed at myself.

"I should have ordered her to get some rest. It's almost midnight isn't it?"

"Yeah, but I don't think she would forgive you if you did. You guys are squad mates after all."

"And we are supposed to look after one another on and off the battlefield. What a great job I'm doing…"

Vice didn't say anything after that. We said our "good nights" and set off toward our rooms. I need some sleep now…

-

Be-be-beep. Be-be-beep. Be-be-beep. Be-be-beep. Be-be-beep.

"SHUT UP!"

I slammed my fist on my clock to shut it off. 4 a.m.? Why the hell did I set it for 4 a.m.? Oh right…I remember now…damn it all…

I feel all groggy and tired, but I can't get back to sleep. I need to hurry up and get my ass moving.

-

I headed to the front of the building and waited for a few minutes before seeing Subaru and Teana walking towards me.

"Kuro? What are you doing up so early?" Teana asked. "Wow…your eyes are all red."

"Ask your roommate," I said, pointing to Subaru. She just contacted me last night after I was dropping off to sleep and told me to meet her here at four. You're nineteen minutes late by the way."

"Come on, we're partners aren't we? We should be training together for things like this," Subaru said cheerfully.

"How the hell are you so energetic already?" Are you on drugs or something?

"Anyway, let's go!"

-

"So, Teana. What's your goal for all this?"

"The short term goal is to increase our efficiency on the battlefield. If it goes well, Stars team will be able to improve the versatility of our combinations with each other and assist the members of Lightning more."

"I see, that's a good goal for now, Tea. I'm looking forward to this."

And thus our long grueling hours of morning training began.

-

"We'll continue to train your individual skills today," Nanoha-san said as we lined up for our official morning practice. "We'll just be repeating the basics, but do your best."

"Okay!"

"Kay…."

Everyone looked at the three of us with surprised looks.

"Teana, Subaru, you two seem to be in a good mood today…Kuro-kun on the other hand…" Nanoha-san said as she focused on me. "Did something happen?"

"N-no."

"Nothing at all, heh, heh..."

"Not really…"

I'm _really_ not up to this right now…

For the next few days, from early in the morning to late at night, we've been practicing to see how our skills can assist each other like how Subaru's wing road can be used to give Teana some elevation or how my speed can distract the enemy for the others to take them out. Teana was pushing herself way too hard…I know she wants to get better quickly but I don't think its going to do her any good like this.

Subaru and I even wanted to call it quits when she suddenly vomited during a session but she insisted on continuing…I think this is too much…

"Sleep time at last," I said as I fell face first onto my bed with Ken flopping down on my head. I'm too tired to even smack the stupid bird. He's had it rough too with always assisting me in our training. Man there's even a mock battle tomorrow.

"Ken, you up to it?" I asked it as it rolled off my head and landed to my left.

It jerked its head up and down in response.

"I'll take that as a yes…well, good night…"

The mock battle with Nanoha-san is tomorrow morning…can I really do this? No, no…don't think about it…just sleep. I'm sure Teana can come up with something…hopefully everything will be okay.

-

"Well then, all through the morning we'll be doing three-on-one scrimmages," Nanoha-san announced. "I guess we'll have Stars go first. Ready your Barrier Jackets"

"Understood."

Damn it…I wanted a few more minutes to relax…

Someone gave me a small pat on the back. It was Subaru.

"Don't worry, we'll be just fine," she said.

"I hope you're right…"

As Lightning and Vita relocated to the roof of a building to watch the mock battle, the three of us prepared our Barrier Jackets and stood back to back.

"Let's do it, Subaru, Kuro."

"Yeah."

"If this doesn't work, I'll have you pay back all the sleeping hours you took from me!"

It was a pretty intense run right off the bat.

Nanoha and Teana were shooting at each other and their magic bolts as fast as they were appearing while Subaru and I were circling around the area trying to look for an opening while avoiding the stray shot.

Ah, here comes the opening.

"Cross Fire…Shoot!"

Teana launched the same barrage she used during the hotel security mission. But this time her control was much better.

The shots weren't supposed to hit Nanoha-san but to lure her towards Subaru's wing road.

As Subaru came rushing towards her head on, Nanoha-san fired some shots directly at her, but instead of avoiding them, Subaru crashed right through them and tried to hit Nanoha-san with her Revolver Knuckle.

It was blocked by Nanoha-san's Raising Heart and Subaru was sent flying.

"Subaru! You shouldn't perform such a dangerous maneuver!" Nanoha-san called out.

"Sorry! But I'll defend against it properly!" Subaru replied after she landed safely on another section of her wing road.

"Where's Teana…?"

"Nanoha-san! Don't forget about me!" I appeared behind and slammed my spear straight down on top of her, but she blocked my attack too…perfect. I started to concentrate and my spear scattered, causing me to slip down below her guard, and reformed back into its sword form in my hands. I slashed upwards but she managed to avoid it as well.

"Damn!" I muttered under my breath as I backed off being chased by two of her shots. "No matter…"

A small laser dot appeared on Nanoha-san's face. It was coming from a building where Teana was readying another attack.

"Let's show them the result of our training: Closed Shift C," Teana said as I cut Nanoha-san's attacks, neutralizing them. "Let's go, Subaru, Kuro!"

"Yeah!"

Subaru made another head on charge towards Nanoha-san, which she blocked again, as I came in from behind. However, she quickly set up another shield behind her to stop me as well.

"Now, Teana!"

The Teana on the rooftop vanished as the real Teana started running up the wing road…hey wait…what's she doing? Why the hell does her gun have a blade now?

"Raising Heart…mode release…"

"All right."

"Huh? Nanoha-sa-" I started to say.

The next thing I knew, there was a huge explosion where we were all standing.

When the smoke cleared I saw Nanoha-san holding Teana's gun-knife and Subaru's fist with her bare hands. I had pulled myself back a bit before the collision so I was a bit further away from everyone else.

"This is strange," Nanoha-san said. "What happened to the three of you?" We were speechless. Nanoha-san's voice was cold and her expression was dark. "I can see you were all doing your best, but this is a mock battle, not a real fight. If you're just going to pretend to listen during practice and then go do something this dangerous during the real thing…then there's no meaning in practice."

She was lecturing to us…while holding onto a blade? Crap…we really screwed up.

"Just do what you learned during the practice sessions, okay?"

"Ah, um…" Subaru began but she seemed scared by Nanoha-san's expression. I was too. I had deluded myself into thinking Nanoha-san was a cheery girl who would let pretty much anything slide…seeing her like this…the exact opposite…

"Was what I've been saying…was my training up until now…all meaningless?"

"I…we…were just…" I couldn't answer her. My words wouldn't leave my mouth…I don't even know what we were trying to accomplish anymore.

"Blade Erase."

Tea removed the energy blade from Cross Mirage and pulled out her second gun and aimed it at Nanoha-san.

"I…don't want to hurt anyone anymore!" She screamed as tears flowed down her face. "I don't want to lose anything anymore!"

"Tea…"

"Teana…"

You're still suffering from everything aren't you? Your brother, that missed shot…

"That's why," she continued. "That's why I want to become stronger!"

Nanoha-san simply looked at her and said, "I guess I'll cool your head a little." She pointed her finger at Teana and a magic circle appeared underneath her. "Cross Fire…"

"Phantom Bull-"

"Shoot."

A huge blast that completely puts Teana's version to shame exploded from Nanoha-san's finger and slammed into Teana.

"Tea! Huh?"

"Teana! Wha?"

Subaru and I tried to move towards her but magic ropes kept us from moving.

"This won't stop me! Magic Di-mph!?"

Another rope appeared and wrapped itself around my mouth.

"Stay put and watch closely," Nanoha-san said.

I looked over where Teana was. The smoked cleared a bit and I could see her struggling to stay standing as Nanoha-san charged up another shot.

Subaru noticed too.

"Nanoha-san!" she called out, but she was too late as Nanoha-san shot it again. This time, the force of the blast sent Teana flying off the wing road.

"Tea!" Subaru screamed in horror as our teammate started falling down the sky.

"Damn it!" I managed to forcefully break out of the bind, which caused my shoulder plates of my Barrier Jacket to shatter, and caught her before she hit a building.

As I landed on the wing road again, Subaru rushed over towards us.

"The mock battle is over," Nanoha-san said. "The result will be that the three of you were shot down."

Subaru started crying as I lowered Teana onto the wing road. I was disappointed too. Disappointed that I let Nanoha-san down.

Subaru than turned around and glared at Nanoha-san…the very same one she had admired all this time. I put my hand on her shoulder to stop her from doing anything stupid.

"Stop it," I whispered in her ear. "We were the ones at fault this time…Magic Dispel…"

I placed my finger on the bind and they disappeared.

Subaru turned around towards me and started crying in my chest. I held onto her shoulders as I looked up at Nanoha-san. I really screwed up this time…

* * *

I wanted to help my friends realize their dreams, in hopes I can do that myself someday. But can I really do it?

Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Reasons for Actions.

* * *

Author's notes

Well...that was fun to write...At the end of each chapter I decided that want to do a little something like a preview of what comes next like they do in anime episodes. Sure it's a little weird but hey, my story my choice. Deal with it XD. I plan to finish another chapter sometime this week as this episode was pretty insane. Especially as it was in the anime. I hope I was able to convey the feelings the characters displayed in the anime well anough.

Til next time people!

That is...if you're still with me until then XD


	7. Chapter 6: Reasons for Actions

Author's Notes:

I was bored with nothing to do, so i thought i'd update this a little earlier than planned.

I'm happy to be let known that people are actually reading this, but i can only tell so much from the stat counter...please leave a review of how I'm doing...

Just comment on how the story is going or something, nothing big nothing small.

* * *

A few hours have past since the mock-battle. I was eating by myself in the mess hall. Well, you can't expect it to be packed around 9pm.

After that disaster we called a mock-battle, Subaru and I carried Teana to the infirmary. We waited in outside for a while for her to wake up, but it was late and neither of us ate anything all day, so I proposed going down to the cafeteria for a snack, but she wanted to wait a bit longer.

So here I am, alone with food that I can't even taste. Just leaving to eat by myself made me lose my appetite, maybe I should go back…no I need to eat something or else I'd pass out.

"Yo." A voice called out to me. I looked up from my plate to see Kobayashi standing there with a tray of food. "Is this seat taken?"

"No, go ahead."

She sat herself down in front of me and started eating a bit. "How's it going?" she asked.

"Could be better," I replied picking at my food. "Congratulations on your mock battle."

Unlike us, Lightning actually completed their battle successfully.

"T-thanks…"

"…"

Well, that was stupid. Why did I mention that? I practically killed the atmosphere. After a long moment of silence, she finally spoke up. "How are you all holding up?"

I stopped poking my food and set my fork down and sighed.

"Teana's still knocked out and Subaru stopped moping at least."

"And you?"

"Trying to drown my disappointment in food but failing miserably," I said as I sighed again. "I should have stopped those two from planning such a dangerous maneuver...instead I fine tuned and took part in it. I'm an idiot aren't I?"

"Don't say that," she said slamming her hands on the table. "It was just an honest mistake! Nanoha-san isn't going to stay mad at you if you apologize! Aren't you the one who keeps telling me that one needs to make mistakes to get better?"

She was speaking so fast I thought her head would fall off. I couldn't help but laugh as she tried to catch her breath.

"But, I hardly think KO-ing someone with your cooking can be compared to this situation," I said as I smiled at her.

"D-don't remind me…did he ever forgive me? I haven't been able to talk to him much after that."

"Oh, he's fine. He just asks me to eat some of his food every now and then," I said with a smirk. "I guess I should thank you. His mom makes the best dishes."

"So I traumatized him with my food?"

"More or less."

She put her face in her hands.

"I really suck at cooking…"

"Hahaha…it's been a while hasn't it?" I asked as I leaned back on my chair.

"Since?"

"Since the two of us had some time to talk."

She looked surprised for a moment but she simply nodded her head.

"Yeah…it's because you were always training with Subaru and Teana from morning to night during your free time."

"What were you doing with the kids?"

"We just practiced the same technique over and over to increase its efficiency and so that our bodies would get used to the strain it puts out."

"Heh…that's a pretty clever idea coming from you."

Her eyebrow twitched a bit as she smiled at me. The next thing I knew I was falling backwards from my chair and landed hard on the floor.

"OW!"

She had used her foot and tilted the tip of my chair that was lifted above the ground due to my leaning back just enough to make it fall over.

"Oh dear, you shouldn't lean so far back," she said as she sat back upright.

"You…damn…"

I was cut off with my comm. beeping.

"Subaru?"

"Kuro-kun! Teana woke up!"

"Ow! Don't talk so loudly…I'll be right there."

The ringing of my ears from her shouting and the pulsing of my head from the fall feels like it was splitting my brain in two.

"Did Teana-san wake up?" Kobayashi asked.

"Yeah," I replied as I stood the chair back up. "Subaru wanted to go apologize to Nanoha-san as soon as she did, so I'm heading over to the infirmary now."

As I started to leave, Kobayashi grabbed onto the back my shirt.

"Can you do me a quick favor?" She asked softly. She was looking at the ground and not at me. Is something wrong?

"Sure…what is it?" I asked.

"Can you call me by my first name from now on?"

"Uh…sure? I don't really get it but…okay…" I lowered my voice a bit and lowered my head to her ear and whispered, "Kasumi."

She looked at me and smiled for a bit then released her grip. "Thanks. Well, you better get going, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

-

What was that just now? She was acting pretty strange; asking me to call her by her first name all of a sudden…well that part is understandable. Despite being friends for 15 years, which is amazing now that I think about it, I've only called her by her surname even though she always referred to me by my first.

I found my way to the infirmary and opened the door.

"Hey Teana, how are you-"

The scene that was in front of my eyes was amazing. If someone were watching this scene from the walls of this room it would be something similar to the anime Love Haru…you know? That one anime where some guy who failed a college exam and ended up being a manager of a girl's dorm that has a hot spring bath?

In front of me was Teana who was putting her pants on…and I just walked right in the middle of it. Wait…how long have we been staring at each other like this? Why am I just standing here just gaping at her? Why is Subaru just standing there too? Why am I talking to myself? And where the hell did she get that pail? Wait…pail?

The stinging and loud clang reached the neurons in my brain. Man what strength a woman can get when she is pissed off. I think I remember reading an online comic that they use hammers on men who harass them to increase comedic values. I wonder how I am thinking all of this in the few seconds before I feel more pain? It's like some pathetic attempt to increase word count to get more people to read a lame fan fic.

And as I think that my head slams onto the ground, with a loud thud and the door closed with someone shouting "Hentai" behind it. "Anyway…yellow was it?" I asked with a small grin. I suppose with this evil face combined with this evil grin and bloody nose would make me seem like a hentai.

-

A few minutes later, after Teana was completely dressed and I stopped my bloody nose, we made our way to the officer's lounge. However, Fate-san told us that Nanoha-san wasn't there and that we should come back tomorrow morning.

"So…what now?" Subaru asked as we walked back to the housing complex.

"It's been a long day," I said glancing at Teana slightly. "It's best to take the night off. Understand, Teana?" I stressed the last part.

"Yeah…"

Her reply told me that she was not in the mood for training anyway.

Ahh my precious bed…oh how I looked forward to sleeping on you on day. The stiffness of your mattress would feel like a cloud after today.

"Sleep time" I said as I dived down onto my bed.

BweepBweepBweepBweep

Someone…somewhere…really hates me…Jail Scaglietti…if I do find you…I'm going to rip you a new one…

-

"This time it's an aerial battle, so only Captain Fate, Sub-Commander Vita and I will sortie," Nanoha-san explained as we waited at the helipad for instructions. "Kuro-kun, Hikari-chan…even though both of you are adept in aerial combat, I would like you to be on standby with the others instead."

"Understood."

I can't tell if there is any hidden meaning in that phrase or not, but me running around…or flying around…slashing things at random would just get in the way and the last thing I need is another night with my waist covered in ice. Wait…did Vita just go, "Tch"? No…must have been my imagination…yeah…I'm just being paranoid about the lieutenant.

"Signum will be taking command here," she said looking at the tall, strict woman standing next to me. She gives out an aura that has "knight" written all over it. It was like being in the era of King Arthur or something.

"And also, Teana," Nanoha-san added.

Oh crap…I feel something bad again.

"You'll be taken off of combat standby."

"Say what?" Although I was the only one who voiced his surprise, everyone was either looking at Teana or Nanoha-san.

"It'll be better that way," Vita added. "Let's leave it at that."

Nanoha-san began to explain her reasoning a bit further.

"Tonight your condition and magical strength aren't exactly the best…"

"Basically, you can't use someone who won't listen to you," Teana mumbled.

"O-oi, Teana…that isn't exactly fair," I said softly looking at Nanoha-san uneasily.

However she simply sighed and continued speaking.

"You've said it yourself and yet you cant understand? That's common sense."

Common sense is kind of out the window when it comes to magic though don't you think?

"I'm listening to commands and orders out on the field," Teana said in her defense. Although she doesn't listen to them when they come from me.

"I'm doing my training diligently as well!" Too diligently I should add.

"How much effort of the effort I put off of the field has to be exactly as you've dictated?" Okay…this is getting out of hand…She's basically just falsely accusing Nanoha-san now. I should do something but I'm not sure what.

"I'm not an elite like you and everyone else, Nanoha-san. I don't have the same amount of talent as Subaru or Erio, I don't have any special skills like Caro and Hikari, and I certainly don't have as much strength as Kuro! "If I don't overdo it a bit, or if I don't go at it like I'm going to die, then I'm not going to get any stronger!"

"Oi Teana! That's going too…far?"

Sub-commander Signum pushed me aside and punched Teana right in the face. Whoa, she was sent flying off her feet…wait a minute! This isn't time for me to be amazed that I wasn't the one getting abused for the first time since I got here!

Subaru and I rushed over to Teana and helped her off the ground.

"Brats like that only get spoiled if you listen to them," Signum said. She then turned to Vice, who had been watching everything from the cockpit of the chopper. "Are we ready to go?" she asked.

"As soon as you get on, we can leave anytime!" he called back.

As the chopper was lifting off, Nanoha-san was trying to get some last words out to Teana as Vita was trying to pull her inside.

"Teana, it seems like you're thinking too hard about this," she said. "Let's talk about it after this is over ."

As the chopper left, Signum turned her eyes back on Teana. "How unsightly, stop being a brat and get to your room," she said.

"Um…Sub-Commander Signum," Erio began "That's a bit…"

"Isn't that a little harsh?" Hikari added

"A-anyway, Subaru-san, Kuro-san…let's head down to the lobby," Caro said quickly. But Subaru wasn't listening as she stood up and faced Signum.

"Sub-Commander Signum," She said as she took a deep breath.

"What is it?"

"I know it's horrible to break protocol and go against orders, and I think it was terrible of me for not being able to stop what Teana said just a moment ago. But to become stronger in one's own way, even if it's a hard situation, to try your best to become stronger…is it really so wrong?"

"Subaru…" She's speaking her heart out here…I shouldn't interrupt her.

"To try in your own way…are you saying that we can't even do that?!"

"Practicing on your own is okay, and putting forth an effort to become stronger is great."

We all turned around and saw Shari standing there.

"Aren't you supposed to be on duty?" Signum asked.

"Master Sergeant Rein said she'd take over as the Main Operator," she explained. "I just couldn't stand to see you all act so awkward with each other anymore. Can you all come to the lobby for a bit?" She asked. "I'll explain about Nanoha-san, and the meaning behind her training."

-

Like she asked, we assembled in the lobby to listen to her story. Dr. Shamal was with us as well. We all waited patiently as Shari worked on her terminal. Finally she began to speak as a monitor popped up with some images and clips.

"A long time ago there was a certain girl. This girl was just a normal girl who didn't know anything about magic at all. She wasn't a girl who would fight. She went to school with her friends and lived peacefully with her family. That was the kind of life she was supposed to have. But something happened and that girl with no magic knowledge or special skills, through a chance meeting, gained magic and just happened to have a lot of magical power."

Kasumi and I exchanged looks quickly. This sounds a little…too similar to our story. Nanoha-san was in the same place as us…except she was much younger than we were.

"Just a few short months after she learned about magic, another life-risking battle took place."

An image of another familiar person showed up.

"That's…"

"Fate-san."

Erio and Caro as well as the rest of us were shocked to see their two people who are now such close friends fight light that.

"The Fate-chan, back then, had a complex family relationship and due to a certain Lost Logia, they were both enemies."

"At the center of this incident was Testarossa's mother, and was named the Precia Testarossa Incident," Signum explained. "Also known as the Jewel Seed Incident."

As she said this we can see Nanoha-san shooting an enormous beam at Fate-san.

"That big of a focused magical attack?" Erio asked as he stood up in shock.

"From a nine-yr old girl?" Subaru asked as well.

Signum continued to speak. "After that, just a short while later, her fight continued."

The next clip made shout out in surprise. "The Lieutenant?"

"We were deeply involved in The Book of Darkness Incident," Dr. Shamal explained.

She failed to defeat her enemy in battle, and lost," Signum said as we saw Vita break through Nanoha-san's barrier jacket. "In order to overcome that lost, she chose to use the then-unreliable cartridge system."

The cartridge system, a system using capsules similar to blank rifle rounds containing compressed magical energy. However, back then using them in combination with Intelligent Devices such as Nanoha-san's Raising Heart, was dangerous as re not usually able to handle cartridge systems, due to the potential instability, and the strain on the user.

Of course, the Ärms didn't use the system as this was the first time a user of the Ärms was under watch of the TSAB. According to what I refer to as DNA memory, all the others have used the Ärms for petty crimes and such. The constant overuse and misuse of them caused the Ärms to be consumed by them.

"Ignoring the strain on her body, she utilized the Full Drive with a power output surpassing her own limits, the Excellion Mode. To save a certain person, she overworked herself in order to convey her feelings. But after all that, there was no surprise that her body would pay a price…"

"And then something happened…on the winter two years after she came to the Bureau," Dr. Shamal said. "During a recon mission on another planet, where Vita-chan's squad was deployed, an unidentified object appeared. The enemy wasn't that strong and Nanoha-chan was her normal self she would've defeated it easily…but the stress on her body that had built up over the months of overworking herself and caused a decrease in her response time…this was the result."

An image of Nanoha-san strapped to machines and covered in bandages appeared on the monitor. They continued to explain what had happened to Nanoha-san but I wasn't listening anymore. The images on the screen had my complete focus. My stomach began to hurt and I was beginning to feel dizzy.

"I'm sorry but I heard enough!" I said as I stood up quickly and ran out of the building. I could hear them calling my "name" but I didn't turn around nor stop until I reached the edge of the housing complex.

"Ugh…I'm not feeling so…blargh!" I leaned on the wall as I began to vomit. Those images brought back an unnecessary memory.

I think I'll just sit out here for a while. I threw myself on the grass and stared up into the starry sky. Come to think of it…the last time I did this was when I got the Ärm…and that stupid bird that comes and goes as he pleases. I wonder how my family is doing?

I let out a huge sigh as I changed my trail of thought…running out of a room while a superior officer is talking…heh I'm going to get it tomorrow…

"Oh, there you are."

I looked behind me to see Kasumi there again.

"Are you thinking about _that_ again?" she asked as she sat down next to me. I didn't say anything but instead flipped myself away from her. "It wasn't your fault you know…"

"Yes it was," I replied. "Because I got lazy and played with you guys she was…she had to…"

"You couldn't have expected that to happen! It was the driver's fault not yours!"

"You weren't there!" I exploded in her face. "You don't know what it was like seeing your little sister wake up only to see that her legs weren't there anymore! And to top it off, everyone just let me off the hook like all that happened was that she got a cut!"

Smack!

Kasumi slapped me across the face with such force I though I was going to lose a tooth.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked as I turned to look at her. There were tears in her eyes.

"Do you want to be blamed for it?" She asked me. "Did you want her to blame you and never speak to you again?"

"I…I…"

"Did you?"

"N-no…I…"

"Then why can't you let the past go? You did nothing wrong so no one put the blame on you! Stop letting this eat at you!" She wiped her tears off and turned her back t me. "Shouldn't you just be happy that she still alive?"

"Ah…I…I…Ka…I'm sorry…I didn't…"

Her body was shaking and her voice was cracking now. Now I made her remember something bad.

"I don't like you like this…get some rest and be back to your normal idiotic self in the morning…"

With that she stood up and left me there, looking at that her from behind. I really am a useless person. How can I accomplish anything if I wallow in self-pity and self-resentment? Kyo…how can I protect her for you if I'm such a pathetic person?

I heard a small rustling behind me.

"Who's there? Come on out!"

Two familiar faces emerged from the bushes.

"Subaru…Teana…did you hear that?"

They nodded their heads slowly and I let out a large sigh.

"Um…we didn't mean to eavesdrop on you…but we heard yelling on our way back," Subaru explained.

"Y-yeah, so we decided to investigate…and we didn't expect to see you two fighting," Teana said not making eye contact with me.

I sighed again as I stood up and dusted the grass off of my clothes.

"How much did you hear?" I asked as I turned to look at them completely.

"Everything after she slapped you," Teana replied finally looking at me.

"U-um," Subaru began nervously as if trying to find an appropriate way to say what she wanted. "What was happening that caused you two to yell at each other like that? You always get along so well and…"

"Subaru," Teana put her hand on her shoulder to stop her. "It's not our place to ask. People not involved don't need to know, right?"

"Yeah," I said as I walked past them. "However." I said as I stood behind them. "You two are my partners. You have the right to know what is going through my mind. A team can't function if a member is keeping secrets from the rest, right?"

"Kuro-kun…"

"Kuro…"

"It's a long story…but if you really want to know, follow me. I don't want other people to know about this."

* * *

I have always lived under the shadows I created. I want to crawl out and let them know how they were made. Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: His Darkness.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Yay cliffhangers!! They're always a bitch to deal with but important to any good story. The next chapter is going to be long and filled with Kuro's talking and will take a small turn from the comedy for a bit. It's a real "sob story" so I apologize to those readers who read for Kuro's pain moments. They're still there, don't worry XD

The next chapter will probably be done soon, maybe on friday...


	8. Chapter 7: His Darkness

Author's Notes:

Like I said last time, this is full of original material and is a little bit of a Sob story. Deal with it.

* * *

**Chapter 7: His Darkness**

I led them to my room and sat down on my bed as they sat down on some chairs near my desk. I wanted to tell them what had happened, but I need to make sure it matches the fake profile that the admiral prepared for me.

"It happened around three years ago, before I even knew anything about magic and just before my parents disappeared. My family moved back to my hometown after being my father was transferred at his work. I wanted to meet my old friends like Ka…Hikari and a few others, but my parents wanted me to take my little sister, Sakura, to the park as she was born after we moved the first time and has never been in the city before. She is my precious six-year-old sister who I loved more than anything else in the world, so I changed my plans so I could take her to the park."

"After about an hour after we got there, my friends came by after seeing my mother shopping in the district and told them that I was there with Sakura. I thought that she was fine playing with the other kids on the playground so I left her for a moment to talk to my friends. It wasn't even four minutes into the conversation that a loud screeching noise from a car making a hard brake echoed throughout the entire area."

I stopped for a moment to swallow my saliva and rest my throat as I brought my hand to my face.

"The first thought on my mind was, "Awesome! I get to see an accident on my first day back!' I had never been so close to one before and so I was excited so I ditched my friends to go see what happened. Heh…heh, heh…just imagine my expression when I saw Sakura lying in the middle of the street…covered in blood."

I didn't look at them, but I could tell their expressions by how cold the atmosphere became.

"Hikari called the paramedics as I tried to keep my little sister awake. Heh…instead of crying and screaming in pain, Sakura was apologizing to me instead…'Onii-chan…I'm sorry I ran into the street…when you and Okaa-san and Otou-san keep telling me not to,' she was saying. I just held onto her, telling her that it was okay and that she needed to stay awake while another one of my friends tore the sleeves off of his shirt and bound her legs, which had shattered upon impact with the car, together. The ambulance arrived about ten minutes later, and I rode with her to the hospital where she was rushed to the emergency room for treatment, while I stood outside in my blood soaked clothes answering the nurses questions like how to contact my parents and stuff like that."

"My mom arrived around half an hour later and before she said anything, I apologized to her for letting Sakura out of my sight, but she said that that wasn't important and I should be praying for her survival. After about two hours into the surgery my dad also rushed in, and like my mom, didn't care about my excuses and just wanted to know how Sakura was doing. He told me not to worry about anything else but her survival."

I stopped to take another deep breath before continuing. My chest was hurting but I needed to get this out. "After another hour or so, the doctors finally came out with the result. She was going to survive…but she was…she was…paralyzed from the waist down…hgh…geh…"

"Kuro! T-that's enough…you don't have to explain any further," Teana said standing up.

"Y-yeah, I'm sorry…I shouldn't have asked about this," Subaru said. "C-come on Tea, we should leave…"

"No," I replied wiping my eyes with my sleeve. "I want you to know about this…please…listen to the end."

The two of them glanced at each other for a moment before sitting back down. I continued with my story.

"For the next six days, I did nothing but sit by her side waiting for her to wake up. I didn't leave the room at all except when absolutely necessary…I didn't want her to wake up all alone after that. Finally, after a week after the operation, she woke up. I was so happy to hear her voice that I hugged her as tightly as I could without hurting her any further. It was short lasting as she tried to move her legs a bit after…she couldn't feel them. She then looked away from me and at her body on the bed. The area where her legs should have been was flat as this floor."

I felt my stomach and heart tighten as I recalled that event.

"I tried to stop her but she threw off her blanket…and what she saw was just up to her knees wrapped in bandages and nothing after that. She began to freak out and started thrashing around, 'Onii-chan! What happened to my legs? Where did they go?' she asked me. My home planet, Planet 97, doesn't have the technology that Mid-Childa has. They couldn't restore he legs, and they discovered an infection within them. They were rendered completely useless and to prevent risk of infection to the rest of her body, they were amputated."

"The doctors rushed in when they heard the screaming and shoved me aside so they could calm her down. After that…I pretty much had a mental breakdown as well…and well… I tried to kill myself."

I looked up at the girls. Their eyes were wide open in shock and in disbelief.

"I probably can guess what you are thinking, 'How can someone like me try to kill himself?' right?"

They jumped back a bit as I said this. I hit the nail on the head with that comment.

I pulled my bangs up and revealed a large scar that ran just across my hairline.

"I ran to the roof of the building where no one could see me and started to beat my head against the wall. You should have seen the crack this hard head of mine made…I thought they were going to charge me for repairs, hahaha."

"Kuro-kun…"

"Right…bad joke. Anyways, my friends had decided to pay a surprise visit to me that day and they saw me run out of the room so they followed me. When they reached the roof and saw me killing myself. They tried to stop me but I was too out of it to even notice them. I only managed to stop after I realized I broke my best friend's glasses and nose from my thrashing about."

"He brushed it off like it was nothing after that, but I couldn't forgive myself, I was hurting everyone around me. After around ten days after Sakura woke up. She was able to calm down and be discharged from the hospital about a week later. That was when I told my parents…that I wanted to move out of the house…"

That was it…I'm at my limit…everything that happened today plus all of this was too much for me to handle all at once.

"Sorry…I'll continue this story another time."

"T-that's fine," Teana said as she and Subaru stood up. "We are in no hurry to hear it."

"Heh, think of this as my way of paying you back for hearing your story without your permission," I replied smirking a little as I notice Subaru freeze up.

"Huh?" Teana flushed a deep red as she started to sputter out random words. "Why…how…when…but…who told you…that?" Her eyes landed on her partner who was slowly trying to leave the room unnoticed. "Subaru! You told him?"

With that Subaru bolted down the hall with Teana chasing after her screaming "Come back here!"

I couldn't help but laugh as I locked the door and slumped on my bed. It's already been three years…I stopped being my normal self for a long time. Using a persona of a happy go lucky idiot to get through my everyday life, I even managed to fool the people that I called "friends".

I recalled what Kasumi told me.

_"I don't like you like this…get some rest and be back to your normal idiotic self in the morning…"_

My idiotic self…is it really me? Is it the one who hurts his precious friends and family? Is it the one who spends his private time in a dark empty apartment?

I haven't been "normal" for a long time…maybe that's why I wanted something abnormal to happen. Maybe that's why I put on this glove, hoping that I would break the cycle of a boring everyday life.

I let out a huge sigh. Whatever, dark and hard thinking isn't my style. Let's get some sleep and see what happens in the morning.

-

Be-be-beep Be-be-beep Be-be-beep Be-be-beep

Ah, the sound of the morning alarm clock, and I am not pissed to hear it at all. LIKE HELL!

I silenced that link to the underworld and checked the time. Holy crap! I haven't slept until six in ages! I feel so energetic now that I know I slept for three hours more than I usually do.

I know, I should get Subaru and Teana and get some breakfast…oh wait…we have to go set up the practice field today…oh well, breakfast can come later. I'll still go get them. I guess it would also show them that I'm feeling better…ah, that's right…I wonder how Kasumi is doing…whatever got to head to their room. I quickly threw on my practice clothes and ran out the door.

I found their room fairly easily and opened the door. "Come on girls, rise and shine!"

The scene in my eyes…almost made my heart leap out of my chest. For some god forbid reason, Teana was stepping on Subaru's butt as she was sprawled across the floor. The two of them stopped moving around and finally noticed me.

Wait…I think there was a similar situation in another anime…what was it…oh right…The Zero's Summoning…what did they do in that scene?

"P-please excuse me," I said as I inched out of the room and closed the door.

Holy crap that was a LOT more stimulation than I needed early this morning. Well, at least I'm wide-awake now.

I can hear shouting and the sound of someone rushing towards the door. Wait if I am standing right outside and in front of the door…if someone was to come rushing out wouldn't they…

BAM!

Teana had came flying out the door and slammed straight into me. Sigh…I should move as soon as I notice something like that. Wait…what are these soft things in my hands…uh…well I judging from her expression, I can probably guess…sigh. This is going to hurt.

SMACK!

-

"Oh…so _that's_ what was going on…"

"Yes and don't you dare tell anyone about it!"

"Yeah, yeah…but I can see why you wanted to do that Subaru, they were pretty nice."

SMACK!

"OW! That was a compliment!"

"Just shut up!"

Teana had explained to me what Subaru was doing to her just seconds before I opened the door. That's a pretty nice scene to picture actually.

SMACK!

"OW! Stop hitting me already! That's four times in twenty minutes! Hey a personal best…"

"Then don't imagine weird things!" Teana said as she walked a bit ahead of Subaru and me.

"You keep track of how many times you get hit in a day?" Subaru asked.

"Eh, it's something to do," I replied shrugging my shoulders.

"S-so…" Subaru said as she looked down at her hands.

"So…what?"

"Are…are you feeling okay?"

"What kind of question is that? I've haven't felt like this in a long time. Must've been those extra hours of sleep I got this morning. Hahaha!"

Subaru looked at me for a moment before looking back at her hands.

"You're right…it was a dumb question…"

I looked at her for a moment before she rushed forward to walk at the same pace with Teana. Did she figure me out?

-

Practice…hurt…exhaustion…pain…success…mock battle…

"Okay, that's it for the morning training and mock battle, good work" Nanoha-san was saying to us. I heard from Subaru that she and Teana had a little talk afterwards and that everything was going to be just fine now. Let's hope it stays that way. "This was to see whether or not you all made it to the second stage. What do you think?" she added as she looked at Fate-san and Lieutenant Vita.

Fate just smiled and said, "Pass."

"So fast!" Subaru. Teana, and I said in unison.

"Well, after all that practice, it would have been a serious issue if you all still sucked," Vita added.

"I think you're all doing well," Nanoha-san said as she turned back to us. "So you all pass to the second stage."

"We'll take off a restraint of your device limiters, so go see Shari later, okay?" Fate-san said.

"Tomorrow we'll have you start training with the basic form of your weapons' second mode." Vita added.

"Wait, tomorrow?" Kasumi asked.

"Yep, we'll start training again tomorrow."

"We're supposed to stay on standby at HQ today," Nanoha-san explained

"Everyone has been training everyday since you've joined," Fate-san said.

"S-so…does that mean?" I asked slowly.

"Yep, you have the rest of the day off. Go out and have fun in the city!"

While the others were cheering for their success, Kasumi and I looked at each other and then at our Ärms. We never had the limiters put on them, so I wonder how this was going to turn out…I better figure out a new form for this to take to not cause suspicion.

-

"Oh, don't worry about that, we installed fake limiters on your 'devices' during your last checkup on the Claudia," Chrono explained.

Worried, Kasumi and I contacted Chrono right after training ended.

"I see…so what else have you been doing under the guise of 'check-up', Admiral?" I asked raising my eyebrow.

"Oh, just some scans and tracking devices. Nothing too big." How he can say that with a straight face I'll never know. "Anyway, you two simply need to go remove the fake limiters and think up another form for your 'device' before your next practice session."

"I see, thank you for your time," Kasumi said bowing.

"No, no, I should be thanking you two for cooperating with us thus far. Anyway, don't you have a day off today? Go have fun before worrying about such things for now."

"Yes, sir!"

The monitor closed and the two of us looked at each other for a moment.

"Um…sorry about yelling at you like that last night," I said bowing.

"It's okay," she said. "I was at fault too."

"No, you were just trying to help me out, but I just continued to be a jackass."

"Yeah, you're right."

I felt as if someone shot an arrow through my chest.

"So to make it up, you are to go on a date with me today!"

"Huh? And do what?" I asked. Her evil grin was enough for me to sweat.

"Whatever I want," she said as she smiled at me. I rather she'd hit me instead…but…a date? What the hell am I supposed to do?

-

"Why are we heading to the garage?" Kasumi asked.

"I asked Vice to get something ready for me a while back, never thought I'd ever get to use it," I explained.

As we turned the corner, I saw Teana ride by on a motorbike.

"Lending such a nice ride to such a dangerous girl?" I joked as we headed up to Vice.

"Come now, you know that she's changed since then," he replied.

"Eh, so how's my baby?"

"In perfect shape."

He opened one of the doors and revealed a sleek blue car.

"How in the world did you get that?" Kasumi asked completely dumbfounded.

"Made it," I said.

"With my help," Vice added.

"Using some parts lying around."

"The ground forces won't miss them."

We high-fived each other to commemorate our success while Kasumi sighed and pinched the area between her eyes. "Can we just go?"

-

"I thought you wanted to hurry?"

"I did."

"So why are we waiting in front of the housing complex?"

"Because Fate-san wanted me to escort Erio and Caro into town before going off on my own."

"So you do babysit your squad mates."

"That's not a nice thing to say…ah here they come."

I saw Erio and Caro being led out by Fate-san.

"They look like a pretty cute couple…wait a minute…you aren't thinking…?" I asked as I turned to Kasumi.

She simply smiled at me. "No questions, no lies."

"Sigh…at least answer me this…is Shari involved?"

Her smile was all I needed to confirm my answer. As Erio and Caro entered my car, Fate-san knocked on my window.

"Please bring them home before it gets too dark, okay?" she asked me.

"Yes, ma'am…although I think they could take care of themselves just fine," I replied.

"Maybe, but still."

"Don't worry, I will."

She nodded her head and I rolled my window back up.

"Okay, seat belts on! And let's get ready to go!"

-

As we cruised down the highway I saw a familiar red motorbike ridden by two girls.

"Oh, its Subaru and Teana," I said as I pulled up to them and rolled down my windshield. "How's it going you two?"

"Just fine! It's a great day to be riding a motorbike!" Teana said with Subaru giving me a thumbs-up.

"I hope you two are hungry!" I called out to them.

Kasumi looked at me with her eyebrow raised before letting out a small squeal. "Caro! Erio! Hold on to something now!" she cried as she grabbed the handle above the door.

"Why do you ask?" Subaru asked as I gave them a wide smile.

"Because you're going to eat my dust!"

I slammed my foot on the gas and the car screeched across the road into the town.

"I'm going to floor it as well!" I heard Teana say as the bike caught up to me in speed.

"We're supposed to be in the military!" Kasumi screamed at us. "Don't go street racing with passengers on, damn it!!"

-

"Tch, they beat me," I said as I stopped by the park. "Sorry for the sudden burst of speed, you two okay?" I asked Caro and Erio.

"Don't be, that was pretty fun," Erio said.

"Hahaha, I see. Well, have fun you two, I'll pick you up when you're ready to go back."

"okay." As they exited I turned to Kasumi who was still clutching on the handle. "So, where did you want to go first?"

She glared at me before smacking me in the face. Five times! Woo-hoo!

-

We spent most of the day…well…Kasumi did anyway…window-shopping all over the city. It was pretty fun, getting out of the base for a while. I almost forgot that this was my real normal life, not that of a TSAB officer. But that doesn't mean I like it…

"A-are we…done yet?" I asked her breathlessly.

Despite claiming to only want to window-shop, she bought a whole mess of clothing and girl stuff from the many department stores we visited.

"No way!" She said as she started to pull me to yet another store. "This is all a once in a life time chance to buy! After we get these gloves removed, we'll probably never…come back here…again…"

The two of us stopped dead in our tracks. She was right…I had never really thought about it until right now.

"It's better to worry about things like that when they actually happen," I said as I switched all the bags to one of my hands and placed my free one on her shoulder. "Besides, our new friends won't forget us that easily and we could always properly join like Nanoha-san, Fate-san and Commander Yagami did."

Kasumi looked at me and smiled. "You really are a positive person, aren't you?" She asked as she completely turned around and looked at me. "I guess I do have enough…for now."

We headed back into the car as I dumped her merchandise into the trunk. As I got back in the car Kasumi started to talk.

"Thanks for listening to my selfish request today," She said as she looked out the window.

"No problem, but I was pretty surprised when you asked for a date all of a sudden."

"Is that so?" She asked still not looking at me.

"Hey…is something wrong?" I asked as I pulled over to the side of the road. She still wasn't answering me. "Is it that time of mon-"

SMACK!

"Finish that sentence and I'll hit you," She said finally.

"You just did you know…" I muttered as I rubbed my nose. "Come on, talk to me Kasumi. If you don't I'll keep bugging you about it…even if you beat the living daylights out of me." I added seeing her raise her fist up.

She sighed as she finally turned around and looked at me. "Do you really want to know?" she asked me.

"You helped me out before, let me help you for once."

"You really think you can help me?" she asked.

"I don't know, but I can try."

She looked out the window again before I finished my sentence and all I could do right now was sigh. I started the engine up again and was about to pull back onto the street when she spoke.

"…Me…"

However it was almost a whisper so I barely heard anything over the engine turning over.

"I'm sorry, what?"

She looked me straight in my eyes again and repeated what she said.

"What do you think of me?"

"Huh? Uh…well I think you're…uh…well…energetic, kind, a good friend…and someone who likes to put up a though front."

"That's not what I meant."

"Uh…then what do you mean?"

"You're the anime geek, what does it tell you?"

I rummaged through my brain for a moment to try to understand what this woman was talking about. I realized what she meant in approximately 0.254 seconds after she said that. Any romance anime lover could tell where this is leading up to…and I never saw this coming…not ever from her.

"I…uh…well…I…" What should I do? I don't know what to say…but I need to say something!

As I struggled to find my words…a small transmission from Caro rang in the car.

* * *

A call to mobilize and a call to answer. What are my feelings for the one who has been with me through fun times and hard times? Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Guardian.

* * *

Author's Notes:

I know next to nothing about cars, so forgive the lack of description for Kuro's ride. After all the action stuff I've been doing, i needed to build up on the other genre this story follows. Sorry about the cliffhanger...again...deal with me please

Ooooo...wrote 4100 words, a personal best...nice...X3


	9. Chapter 8: Guardian

Author's Notes:

Well here it is. The answer to the cliffhanger on Friday. Ah, that was a great piece of work wasn't it?

* * *

**Chapter 8: Guardian**

"This is Lightning 4! We have an emergency situation. I will report," it said. Her voice seemed to echo in the car as Kasumi and I stared at each other. "We've found a case we believe to be a Relic in a back alley off of 3rd Ave F-23. There is also a girl who we believe to have carried the case."

We had to move to take control of the scene but I knew I wasn't going anywhere until I answered her. Sigh…it's sink or swim…might as well tell her how I honestly feel. Deep breath…and here we go…

"Kasumi…I…I think you're a great person and all, I really do. However…I can only, and have only, seen you as a friend…nothing more."

I braced myself for the clichéd rejection scene. I even tensed my body up to prepare for a beating. But instead, all I heard was a sigh of relief.

"I see, so you feel the same way as I do."

"Huh?!"

She was smiling at me…not crying or pissed off…but smiling?

"Thanks for telling me that, it really is a load off my shoulders."

"I repeat, 'HUH!?'"

She started to explain.

"I wanted to go on this date with you to see if I could do this as your girlfriend, but no matter how hard I tried, I only saw it as two friends hanging out…or rather, the female friend forcing her slave to carry everything for her."

"Why you…sigh…so that's how it was," I said as I slumped back on my chair.

"I'm sorry for putting you on the spot like that, but I had to be sure you whether or not you felt the same way I did."

"No problem. Anyway we better get to Caro's position before something bad happens."

"Right! Kick it into high gear and let's go!"

"Roger!"

So that means everything between us will be back to normal…right?

-

When we arrived there, the Subaru and Teana were already there.

"Sorry we're late, we were on the other side of the city, what's the situation?" I asked as we caught up to them.

"Kuro-kun!" Subaru suddenly jumped up and blocked me from getting any closer.

"Uh…what is it?" We need someone to hold a perimeter around this place," she explained. "I'll come with you to brief you on the situation."

"Um…wouldn't Hikari be a more appropriate choice?" I asked as she pushed me away.

"No, no! It has to be you!" She wasn't letting up one bit. Kasumi looked at Subaru with her eyebrow raised then looked over at Caro. Her eyes widened in shock before turning back to me.

"You should listen to when a girl is asking to you to do something!" she said as she pushed me along as well. "Get moving!"

"Geez what is wrong with you two? I'm going, I'm going!"

-

As we waited for Vice and the Captains, Subaru informed me of what Caro and Erio told her, at least, stuff that wasn't mentioned in Caro's report. Like how it was a girl even younger than Caro was and how she was all beat up from walking for who knows how long in the sewers.

"I see…" I said after I heard everything. "Thanks."

"No problem," Subaru replied. "You can't be the only one who doesn't know what is going on."

"That's not what I'm thanking you for."

"Eh? Then what for?"

"For not letting me see the beat up girl. That's the real reason you made me come up here under the guise of 'establishing a perimeter,' right?"

"That…that is…um…"

"Oh, so that was the real reason after all."

"AH! You tricked me!"

"That old trick only works on gullible people. Says a lot doesn't it?" I asked her smiling slightly.

Seeing her blush and stutter like this while looking for a rock to crawl under is pretty funny.

"But seriously, thanks…I don't know what I would have done if I saw it."

"Heh, heh…no problem. Ah, there they are!" She said as she looked up and waved her hands.

I looked up as well. There's the chopper…I hope we can get the girl out of here as soon as possible…

-

As everyone gathered around Dr. Shamal as she treated the girl, I stood way in the back, so that the others obscured my view of the treatment. Of course, I simply said that I was standing watch, although I doubt anyone believed me, but if they didn't, they didn't say anything.

"Her physical condition is stable and there are no dangerous readings either…there's not reason to worry," Shamal diagnosed.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, especially me. I took this opportunity to get a closer look at the girl. She was small all right. She was probably around six or seven years old…why the hell was she chained to Relic cases?

"I'm sorry that this had to happen during your vacation, everyone," Fate-san said as I looked back over to the others.

"No, its fine," Erio and Caro said quickly. Wonder how their little date went?

"We'll take the case and the girl back via helicopter," Nanoha-san said. "You guys inspect the scene."

"Understood."

Everyone but me agreed to this. I was too busy looking at the girl. There was…something about her that was bothering me…this feeling…for some reason, she reminds me of Fate-san and Erio…but why?

"Nanoha-chan, can you carry this girl to the helicopter?" Shamal asked her.

"Ah, no, let me do it for you," I said quickly as I rushed over.

"Eh? N-no that's okay, you shouldn't over exert yourself, Kuro-kun." She said as she and Fate-san picked her up carefully.

"How would I over exert myself picking up a little…wait…" I turned my head slowly like a garden sprinkler towards Subaru's back. She immediately stiffened up and turned around to see me glaring at her. She tried to walk away but I caught up and placed my hand on her shoulder. "Do you make it a habit of sharing personal stories?" I asked softly.

"N-no! I was just…uh…" she replied shaking in her boots.

"Didn't I say I only wanted you two to know?"

"W-well…I thought it would be important to…uh…let…"

"What part of, 'I don't want other people to know about this,' was too hard to understand?"

A small alert rang off in my comm.

"Saved by the bell…" Subaru muttered softly.

-

As was predicted, the Gadgets have caught whiff of the Relics and were on their way here. We had two objectives: take control of the northeast and southwest areas, while escorting the chopper out of the hot zone. Shouldn't be too hard. We're also getting reinforcements from Lieutenant Vita and Sergeant Ginga Nakajima…hey is she Subaru's older sister?

"Now then," Teana said as we prepared our devices. "Everyone, I hoped you enjoyed your vacation."

"Time to get to work and kick some ass!" Subaru said.

"Yeah!"

My precious vacation time…I'm really going to rip you a new one Scagletti.

"Standby!"

"Set Up!" "Lock and Load!" "Engage!"

This is something that always makes this worthwhile…transformation is nice…heh, heh…boing…

This was the battle plan, Lightning 3 and 4 along with Stars 3 and 4 will intercept the enemies entering through the sewer systems. Lightning 5 will assist Long Arch by relaying real time battle data back to them while I was to assist when necessary. In short I was a reserve unit, not too bad I guess.

I decided to keep a close eye on the chopper. I don't know why…maybe it's because of the little girl on board that has no way to defend herself. It's not that I don't trust Shamal or Vice, but…I just feel uneasy about all of this.

It was only a few minutes before Kasumi contacted me.

"Orders? About time," I said.

"We have a problem! Nanoha-san and Fate-san are under heavy attack from the Gadgets!"

"Tch, what a bad time to be without those birds! We can't fly without them! I'm getting tired of hopping from building to building."

"Seriously…anyway, keep your eye on the helicopter! We believe that they'll be targeting that sooner or later."

So they are after that girl? I should really trust my gut feelings more often!

"Hikari! You head underground and help the others! I'll see what I can do from up here!"

"Roger! Be careful up there! You'll be at a disadvantage until Ken gets there."

"Tell me something I don't know."

I cut the line and started to close the distance between the chopper and myself.

It was a few more minutes before I could barely make out the chopper.

"Oi, Vice!" I called through my comm..

"Huh? Kuro? Aren't you supposed to be with the other Forwards?" he asked.

"Change of plans! Control believes that you're the target…well not you yourself, but your cargo."

"Hmm…the way you say it, it makes me sound unimportant."

"Hahaha, sorry for being harsh."

"Should I head back and pick you up?" He asked as the chopper stopped for a moment.

"No," I said as I climbed up a large office building to measure the distance left to the chopper. "I'm pretty close to you already, just keep moving until you're out of the hot zone!"

"Roger!"

Just as I was about to continue my trek, I felt a shiver throughout my body. W-what is this? This is…

Someone contacted me through my comm.

"Long Arch? What is this?" I asked.

"A large energy signal has been spotted within the city!" Shari explained. Is this what I'm feeling? "Stars 5! Can you see anything from your position? It's to your northeast!"

Northeast…I turned to my right and saw something glowing…damn it my eyes aren't as good as Kasumi's…but…wait!

"What the hell is that!?"

"Stars 5?"

"It's a cannon! It's charging up!"

"Roger! Wait for confirmation!"

Screw that! I can't wait! What's it aiming at? Wait…it's aiming for…the chopper! Are they planning on destroying the evidence?

"Like hell they are!"

I started skipping across the rooftops like mad as I closed the distance, I didn't care if I was breaking orders. I needed to stop that shot!

A loud explosion reached my ears. It was if the world was moving in slow motion. I turned to see a large beam shoot from the building. No…not again…don't let it happen again…they're just in front of me damn it!

_What is your desire?_

I saw Ken floating next to me.

_Do you want power?_

Yes.

_Power to make anything possible?_

No. I don't need that much.

_Then, what?_

Just to protect my friends.

_Are you willing to give your body up?_

No. I intend to keep protecting them with this body.

_Then they may die…_

If I save them and disappear, they will be sad.

_Despair is better than death._

No. A life full of despair is a fate worse than death.

_An interesting answer... very well, I shall grant you your power. The power to protect is yours._

The next thing I knew, there was a loud explosion ringing through the air.

-

"Who…who are you?" Someone near me asked. I looked to my left, and saw Dr. Shamal who had fallen over from the explosion. I tried to speak but there was something covering my mouth, a metal mouth guard.

I took a quick look over my body. My original Barrier Jacket has changed completely. Instead of a samurai like armor, it was heavy full plate armor, similar to European knights of the Middle Ages. My imagination goes pretty far, I guess. I also now have a second black wing on my back. Must be a symbol of a rank up.

How did I get from that building to here I wonder…

_A movement spell. Shadow Step. It relocates your entire being through the worlds of shadows using shadows to a place where you have been before._

I see. I looked at my feet. I was standing on top of Dr. Shamal's shadow. So that's how it works. I had also emitted a large shield to cover the chopper when I reappeared. I gave Dr. Shamal a thumbs up to let her know I was an ally since my looks and my voice were different and cut off respectively.

I jumped out of the helicopter to take a look around the area. There was still smoke around and it was jamming our communications…so annoying…let's see with this new armor comes with a new weapon…a gauntlet?

_Flare Fist of the Demon King, Shinken, gauntlet form._

I see…how come I am unable to speak?

_All of your concentration must be focused on your magic in this form. Dispel the magic to regain normal body functions._

I see…I can't talk when I use my magic. I lowered my hand that was holding up the barrier and my steel mask opened outward like an automatic door.

I picked up Long Arch's transmission in my comm.

"Is anyone there? Can anyone confirm the status of the helicopter?"

"This is Stars 5," I said breathlessly, opening my mouth after it was plugged up like that was tiring. I could barely catch my breath. "I…I managed to protect the chopper!"

"Kuro-kun?"

I turned around to see Nanoha-san behind me. She was looking at me in bewilderment as well…wait…

"Um…why are you pointing your device at me?" I asked pointing at Raising Heart, which was in a form I haven't seen before.

"Oh! Uh…I thought you were an enemy," She said as she scratched the back of her head.

"Please don't threaten me like that…it's really scary…" Like "looking down the opening of a nuclear missile silo" scary…

"A-anyway, Nanoha-san!" I said as I pointed in the direction where the shot came from. "I'll handle the defense of the chopper! The target is over there!"

"Okay! Fate-chan let's go!"

She then flew past me towards the cannon. As I watched her and Fate-san chase after the target, my comm. rang.

"Kuro! Is that really you up there?" It was Kasumi.

"Um, can I call you back? I'm watching the Captains using extreme brute force to subdue the ones who shot at the chopper."

Just as I said that, they shot some very dangerous and painful looking magic at the fugitives. Their shots collided into each other right where the fugitives were at and they were caught in a huge explosion…ouch.

"No they dodged it!" Fate-san said through the channel.

Seriously? How the hell is that possible?

_A fast object rescued them._

I see…then that's it then, huh?

I flew towards the pilot seat of the chopper and knocked on the glass.

"You got a clear ride home buddy," I said to Vice.

"Yeah! Thanks for the save!" He said giving me a small salute.

"Heh, heh, all in a day's work."

I pulled back a bit and looked around. I guess I'll regroup with the other Forwards.

-

When I got there they were explaining what happened to the Relic that Vita thought she lost.

"The case wasn't a silhouette, it was the real one," Teana said. "My silhouettes are weak to shock and would have disappeared the minute they took it."

"So we opened the case and put a heavy seal on the Relic itself," Caro said.

"And the relic is…" Subaru said as she lifted off Caro's hat, revealing a transparent flower.

"Right here," Teana said as she snapped her fingers, turning the flower into the Relic.

"We thought it was best that Caro held onto it," Kasumi said, picking up the Relic.

"Since she has the least direct contact with the enemy," Erio added.

Rein and I clapped our hands in praise while Vita simply laughed, completely dumbfounded.

"By the way, Kuro-san," Caro said as everyone turned to look at me. "What's with that new jacket?"

"Oh this?" I asked as I turned around on the spot to show it to everyone. "Doesn't it make me look totally bad-assed?"

"Don't joke at a time like this!" Kasumi said.

"AH! Okay. This is another variation of my Barrier Jacket that was unlocked when the Limiter was removed, 'The Armor of the Unmovable Mountain, Barrier Jacket, Guardian Form.' With it I was able to get to the chopper and deploy a shield to block that shot, like so."

The steel mask closed around my mouth again as I concentrated my magic into my feet.

Shadow Step!

I sunk into the ground and heard the others gasp in shock. I then appeared behind Caro an instant later and my mask reopened.

"It's a pretty good movement spell," I said as I leaned on her head playfully. "However, I can only move to places I've been before and only if there is a shadow at the location. After that I deployed a magic shield, like this."

The mask closed itself again and I raised my hand above my head. A shield appeared above our heads. It was so wide that it covered all of us with ease. I then put my hand back down and the mask opened again.

"I see…so that's what happened," Teana said with her hand on her chin.

"Um…your heavy," Caro said.

"Ah, sorry about that," I said as I moved away a bit. "Another downside to this is that I can't talk when I use my magic. This stupid mask keeps closing on me when I do so." I pointed to the now open mask."

"No wonder you couldn't tell us that you saved the helicopter earlier," Subaru said. "If you did we might have been able to keep the summoner under custody…"

"Kuro! Front and Center!" Vita shouted suddenly.

"Y-yes ma'am!"

Oh crap! I remembered that I acted on my own without waiting for orders! Even if I saved the chopper…that or she's pissed at losing her quarry and even more pissed that Subaru just reminded her of it.

She looked up at me for a moment before smiling a bit.

"Thanks for saving the helicopter," she said. "You did a good job today."

…Did she just thank me?

I put my hand on her forehead.

"W-what the hell are you doing?" she asked as backed away.

"Just checking for a fever…did you hit your head on something Lieutenant?"

Whoa…I could see flames appearing behind her…why is she clutching her hammer with both hands? Oh, she's raising it above her head now. Oh, it's growing bigger! Oh it's…oh crap…

CLANG!

No pain on my head, just a loud sound echoing in it. Cool, the helmet I'm wearing is strong enough to defend even against the Lieutenant, even though she is good at breaking barriers. No wonder these gloves were considered dangerous.

"Cool, that didn't hurt at all," I said as I knocked on the helmet.

"Oh? It didn't, did it?"

There was a burning sea in her eyes now…man I got to learn to shut up sometimes…

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

My scream echoed throughout the city as I was being beaten my savage superior.

* * *

A song that gives a person their strength can not be silenced, but can a person really rely on something that they do not understand? Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Songs and Family.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Well instead of having an official couple this chapter, we have Kuro's new Barrier Jacket and weapon form. I apologize if any of you are disappointed by the turn of events, but I have other plans for Kuro right now. Of course, you can't have him go an entire Chapter without getting hurt at least once. I love having him piss off Vita like this. It's almost like a stress relief. Oh and just in case any of you, my maybe 15 readers, are like me and try to visualize the characters actually saying the words in my fic, I fee like Kuro sounds like Nakamura Yuichi (who voiced Okazaki Tomoya from Clannad and Graham Acre from Gundam 00 as well as voicing Saotome Alto from Macross F) and Kasumi sounds like Hirohashi Ryou (who voiced Fujiyabashi Kyou from Clannad). Next time will be a Vivio chapter and something to do with a song...along with more relationship hints. Oh and don't worry, Kasu-min still has a huge role to play later on, so she's not out of the picture JUST yet! Hmm...should I have told you that? Oh well, that's not for a long time anyway.

Oh and on a final note, Reviews are appreciated and begged for!! I'm on my knees damn you!!


	10. Chapter 9: Songs and Family

Author's Notes:

1000 hits! Thank you for your cooperation!

* * *

**Chapter 9: Songs and family**

"Ow…ow…ow…"

"What's wrong Kuro-kun?"

"N-nothing you need to worry about, Nanoha-san…"

"It is something to worry about. You are the driver after all."

"You have a good point, Sub-commander Signum."

Nanoha-san, Sub-commander Signum and I were heading to the Saint Church to check up on that girl we picked up yesterday. My body aches from the beating I received from the lieutenant but I still wanted to go check up on her.

"Once the examinations are completed, what do you plan to do with her?" Signum asked.

"Section 6 or the Church will have to take care of her for a while," she replied after thinking for a moment. "If we were to find a place to take her, we'd have to be assured of the family's long term safety."

"Makes sense…although I'm not too sure about having a child…well a civilian child running around a military base…and Lieutenant Vita would probably kill me if she heard that, so please keep this conversation a secret." I pleaded with them/

Nanoha-san laughed for a bit and then a monitor appeared in the middle of my windshield. Seriously, that is so freaking cool, monitors everywhere.

"Knight Signum!" the woman on the monitor called out.

"What's wrong?"

"We apologize…we failed to properly secure her, and she vanished in the middle of the examination."

The three of us looked at each other and nodded. I slammed my foot on the gas pedal and sped down the highway.

As I pulled into the parking lot, the woman in the monitor came running out the hospital.

"What's the situation Sister Schach?" Nanoha-san asked.

"After we discovered she'd disappeared, we sealed and evacuated the special wing and the surrounding areas. As of yet, we've found no indication that anyone came in via flight or teleportation."

"Then she simply got up and walked away?" I asked. Nice security lady…

Nanoha-san gave me a look that shut me up before she continued to speak.

"She can't leave the building, right?"

"Correct."

"Then, let's split up and look for her."

"Yes ma'am."

Signum went with the sister while I went with Nanoha-san.

The two of us took a look in the garden located in the center of the hospital. It wasn't long before we heard a rustling in the bushes and the girl came out, holding a small rabbit doll.

"Ah, there you are," Nanoha-san said. "I've been worried…"

We barely took two steps closer to her when Sister Schach appeared out of nowhere, weapons and all. The girl was so scared that she fell over, can't blame her, I almost jumped back myself.

"Um…I don't think there's any threat," I said quickly. "Ah, she's crying…"

"Sister Schach, may I try something?" Nanoha-san asked.

"Um…sure…"

"I'm sorry for scaring you," Nanoha-san said to the girl as she picked up the rabbit doll she was holding and handed back to her. "Are you okay? Can you stand?"

Heh Nanoha-san's pretty good with kids. I walked a little bit closer to them and the little girl looked up at me.

"I am Takamachi Nanoha, and this is Kurosawa Kuro," she explained to her. "Can you say your name?"

"Vivio…" the girl mumbled. Holy crap she's cute…she reminds me way too much of Sakura…

"That's a good name," I said as I slowly reached my hand out to her. She winced slightly but didn't move when I patted her head and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "Did you want to go somewhere?"

"Mama…isn't here…"

"Ah…" Nanoha-san and I looked at each other.

"That's terrible…then let's look for her together." Wow…she's really good.

"Sister Schach, are all the examinations finished?" Nanoha-san asked as she picked Vivio up.

"Yes."

"Then for the time being, let's take her back with us."

"Okay, but you sit in the back and hold her," I said quickly. "I didn't childproof my car."

I walked behind the captains as we headed back to my car. Vivio was looking at me from over Nanoha-san's shoulder.

I gave her a small wave, which she returned slowly. She's a nice quiet girl.

-

"WAAAAAAH!! DON'T GO!!"

My ears…my ears…my ears…

When we got back to Section 6 HQ, Nanoha-san was called for a captains' meeting and I hat to go in for a check up for my new Guardian form so she wanted to leave Vivio with the other forwards…but apparently we made quite an impression on her…

She was clinging onto us and crying her eyes out

"Ah, don't cry, don't cry," Nanoha-san was saying.

"Please stop crying," I said as I patted her on the head with one hand and tried to loosen her grip with the other. "I'll come back and play later!"

"Um…what's going on?"

I looked up to see Fate-san and Commander Yagami on a floating monitor.

"Um…Captain Fate…actually…"

"Don't go! Don't go!"

"Help? Please?" I asked desperately to the two.

"Don't you have a little sister?" Hikari asked with her arms crossed. "Shouldn't you be used to dealing with this?"

"Oh, I'm used to hearing it but I've never really knew how to deal with it."

A few minutes later Fate-san and Commander Yagami came in.

"I guess there are some opponents even the Ace of Aces can't beat," Commander Yagami said.

"Enough with the jokes! That's my specialty!" I said.

She smiled a bit before speaking again. "Subaru, Hikari, Caro, we'll take it from here, why don't you go rest for a bit?"

"Uh…okay…"

"Hello there," Fate-san said as she picked up the rabbit doll that was on the ground. "Is this your friend?" Wow…she got her to stop crying…

"Vivio, this is Fate-san, my best friend," Nanoha-san explained.

"Vivio, what's wrong?" Fate-san said as she moved the rabbit back and forth, left to right and Vivio kept moving her head back and forth following it.

"Nanoha-san brought her back from the hospital and now she won't leave us alone…" I whispered into my comm..

"So, I thought I would have the Forwards take care of her…but…" Nanoha-san said as we looked at the others.

"Sorry…"

"Leave it to me," Fate-san said.

"Vivio, do you want to be with Nanoha-san and Kuro-kun?"

Vivio nodded her head in response.

"But they have to do something important, your selfishness is bothering them, this girl too, see?" She said referring to the doll. "You don't want to bother them, right? So be a good girl and wait, okay?"

"Thank you, Vivio," Nanoha-san said. "we'll only be gone for a little while."

"Yeah, I'll bring you something nice when I come back," I added.

She looked very disappointed, but nodded her head anyway.

As I left the room, Kasumi followed me.

"Hey…are you okay? You're kind of wobbly." She asked.

"No…I'm not okay…" I said as I dropped to my knees. "It took a lot of will power not to collapse in there and freak everyone out."

My breathing was short and my head and chest were throbbing like crazy.

"S-should I get you to the infirmary?" She asked as she helped me up.

"No…just take me to my room…and tell Shari…I'm going to be late."

"S-sure…"

-

There was a commotion inside a simple home in the city. A woman was crying…a man was holding onto a little girl in a wheelchair…and a boy was leaving, his arms laden with suitcases.

_"Onii-chan! Don't go! Don't go! I'll be a good girl! Don't go! Don't go!!"_

Don't worry, I'll come and visit you.

_"No! Stay! I want you to stay!"_

I'm sorry…I can't stay here anymore…I'm sorry…

_"No…Onii-chan…ONII-CHAN!!"_

-

"AH!"

A dream…? No…a flashback…damn it…looks like I feel asleep as soon as Kasumi dropped me off here. At least it was only for an hour. I better go and get that check up…

-

Everything checked out perfectly. There are no problems with me…physically anyway. As I walked back to the housing complex, I pulled something out of my pocket. It was a harmonica that I kept with me wherever I went. I started to play a song that an old friend of mine used to play for me. As I played, the lyrics started to float into my head.

_Sing A Song Unto The World  
Rising High The Clouds Un-furl  
Fan The Flames Into The Past.  
Hear __Me Now, Our Lives Will Last.  
We'll Never Know The Times Of Pain.  
Fall Down,  
Fall Down,  
Falls the Rain.  
My Life, Won't Be Plain._

Heh…that didn't sound too bad…considering it's supposed to be played by a piano…when I think about it…the song's rather ironic…considering what happened.

"Oh, Kuro-kun?"

"Subaru?"

She was running up the path and stopped next to me.

"Did you hear some music just now?"

"Hmm? Why?" I slipped the harmonica back into my pocket before she could see it.

"I could have sworn I heard music around here."

"Why do you want to look for the player?"

"Because it was such a good song!"

"Well, there's no one around here that could play anything…you sure you heard a song?"

"I know I did! Maybe it was someone in the housing complex! Come on, help me look!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me inside.

Heh…Kyo, you still have a fan after all this time…and a new one as well.

-

"Nanoha-san, Fate-san. Welcome back."

I saluted the captains when I saw them walking down the hallway.

"Thank you, how was the check-up?" Nanoha-san asked.

"Everything is a-okay. Oh and I brought some sweets for Vivio, if that's okay."

"I'm sure she'll like it."

As she opened the door, Vivio came running towards her and Nanoha-san lifted her up in the air.

"Vivio, I'm home," Nanoha-san said to her. "Were you a good girl?"

Vivio then hugged Nanoha tightly around her neck she must've missed her. She then looked shyly over at me.

"Hello," I said as I patter her on the head. "I have a present for you."

Nanoha-san put Vivio back down on the ground and I pulled a piece of candy out for her. "Here, open your mouth."

"Ah"

I plopped the candy in her mouth.

"Is it good?"

She nodded her head.

"Good, then here you go." I handed her another one and the rest to Nanoha-san. "Don't let her eat too much now, okay?"

"Thank you Kuro-kun, but where did you get all of this?"

"Made it." I said simply as I reached in and pulled out one of them.

"Huh? You did?" She looked at me and then at the bag in disbelief.

"Yeah. Although I did leave a mess in the kitchen afterwards…"

"I see, sorry for the trouble."

"Don't worry about it. I said I wanted to do it, so it's no problem. Although they aren't at my usual standards…I haven't made them in three years so I was afraid they'd turn out horrible…Anyway, I'll take my leave now…good night." I waved goodbye to Vivio and saluted the Captains before I left the room.

-

I returned to the darkness of my room and slumped down on my bed. Exhausting…seeing that girl, Vivio, is exhausting… it's too exhausting to sleep…I need some fresh air…

I got back up and headed out back.

The starlit sky illuminated the path for me. Come to think of it, I haven't been out here since I saw Teana practicing. It's a nice secluded spot…

I pulled out my harmonica and started to play the song again. They say any good artist puts his own emotions into his creation, what was Kyo feeling when he wrote this?

"Aha!"

"Bwoong!" I blew a loud sour note into the harmonica in shock as someone came running up to me.

"So it _was_ you, Kuro-kun!"

"S-Subaru?"

She was looking at me like a hunter eyeing its prey after a long chase.

"I should have known it was you who was playing that song. You were the only person around when I heard that song this morning."

"Incredible!" I said, faking a surprised expression. "You saw through my lie so easily! You must be a genius!"

I sighed as I put my harmonica back in my pocket.

"Hey! Don't put it away!" She said as she grabbed my hand.

"Huh? Why not?"

"I want to hear it all properly!" She said, her eyes glowing.

"Sorry, but I don't give free concerts…especially to people who can't keep secrets."

"Uwah…you won't forgive me for that, huh?"

"I specifically said that I didn't want other people to know right?"

"I'm sorry!"

"Is there a reason for those loose lips of yours?"

"Ehehehe…not really."

I let out a small sigh and started to head back to my room, my precious night has been interrupted by a troublesome girl.

"Come on, at least play a little bit of the song."

"This song isn't meant for a harmonica, it was meant for a piano, it wont get the proper meaning across."

"Heh…a song's meaning? You really are an artist aren't you?" she asked holding her chin in her hand.

"How did you get to that conclusion? I didn't even compose this song, so even _I_ don't know what he was trying to say."

"Who's 'he?'"

"What's with all these questions? You're driving me crazy!"

"Is that what you really think?" She asked tilting her head to the side.

"Yes! It's really bothering me!"

"From the bottom of your heart?"

"Yes…from the pits of my black heart…you're annoying me!"

"So you can express your true feelings after all."

"I…huh? What does that mean?"

She turned around and looked at me over her shoulder.

"I wonder?" She said sticking her tongue out.

"How in the world does Teana put up with you?" I asked pressing my forehead with my thumb and index finger. "You're really giving me a headache."

"Then answer my questions and I'll stop bugging you."

"Fine, I'll answer ONE question."

"Five."

"I said only ONE, Subaru…"

"Four!"

"We are NOT negotiating this!"

"Three!"

"Fine! Whatever! Just ask them already!" I crack way too easily…it pisses me off.

"Okay, then what is that song?"

"It's a song I play sometimes to calm my nerves. It also reminds me a bit about home."

"What's it called?"

"The Song of the World."

"Who composed the song? And be specific about it!"

"A friend of mine when I was around six years old. Ko…ah, I mean, Hashimoto Kyo. He was also Hikari's older brother. I think he wrote it to express how he felt about our world."

"I see…wait… 'was?' Did you said 'was her brother?'"

"Sorry, I answered three questions already. Besides, that's not my story to tell." And I don't want to recall that incident either. I never want to see Kasumi's expression from that time ever again.

Subaru opened her mouth but didn't say anything. She nodded and smiled. "I see, then I won't ask anymore," she said.

"Good, now if you don't mind, I want to go back to my room." I think I had enough fresh air for a month or so now.

"Wait! One last thing!" Subaru said grabbing my arm again.

"Oh joy, what the hell is it now?"

"This."

She held out a small black box to me.

"This?" I asked as I took it from her.

"It's a souvenir I got for everyone during our day-off."

"You know, we all had the same day-off right?" I asked her as I opened it. Inside was a pendant, a dark blue gem tied on a long string. "Wow…this is pretty nice."

"I thought the contrast with your Barrier Jacket would bring out your eyes more."

"Uh…huh…okay, thanks. It's pretty cool." I took it out of the box and put on.

"Thank goodness, I thought you would think it was too weird," she said sighing in relief. "Well, I don't want to take up anymore of your time." She started to walk back to her room.

I looked at the pendant in my hand and then closed my fist around it. I pulled out my harmonica and started to play.

She stopped and turned around when she heard the first note. She closed her eyes and listened to each note ringing in the night sky. I concentrated on each note, not missing any cue or note. The night was silent besides for my song.

A world with no disruptions…a peaceful scenery with just the two of us. Maybe, just maybe, I'm beginning to understand the meaning behind this song just a little bit better.

* * *

A distant heart brings nothing but pain to itself and others around. My heart cannot handle the pain from my past and it affects my present. Next Time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Broken Things

* * *

Author's Notes:

A new pairing maybe? Even though its not one of my usual update days, I wanted to do something special for the 1000 hit mark. Don't worry, there'll still be a new one tomorrow...maybe but you know i spoil you people 3  
The song sung/played by Kuro is a loose english translation of the song "Konoyo no Uta" by Iwasaki Taku. The actual song and an english version can be found on youtube. I suggest you at least hear the japanese version to understand the melody and beat of the song. It's really nice.


	11. Chapter 10: Broken Things

Author's Notes:

Surprise Surprise! Another Chapter already? It's like I've already finished writing everything and decide to make you guys wait for the chapters! Hmm... -.-"

Anyways, thank you for your reviews. I agree, i need to put more details within this, but I'm just not quite sure how to do battle scenes very well...if this was a manga it would be so much easier...sigh...i need to take art classes...  
Anyways, lets move on to the story!!  
Gasp...is it almost over?

* * *

**Chapter 10: Broken Things**

Another day, another training session, I'm beginning to get used to this even enjoy it. We kept on practicing with our secondary forms. For me, it was this gauntlet. I decided to add a little something extra to it, a switchblade that extends at my will. It gives me a longer reach than with just the gauntlet itself.

Kasumi's new weapon was much pretty impressive. It was a more advanced form of her bow. She doesn't need to waste time drawing a string anymore, the bow would shoot at targets automatically. She can also adjust how much power each shot uses with a single slider. It's more like a gun in a crossbow form more than anything.

Morning training has ended and we're heading back to the housing complex.

"I guess we've finally gotten used to our secondary modes," Subaru said.

"You're right," Caro said, nodding her head.

"It's not a major change for Caro, Hikari and me but it must be tough on the three of you," Subaru said looking at us.

"The whole form's change," Caro added.

"For me its' not too bad," Teana said looking at her device that is in its card form. "The Dagger Mode is just a backup."

"_Yes_!" Her device answered.

"It's Erio's and Kuro's that are complicated."

"Strada's secondary is pretty crazy," Subaru noted. "And Shinken's I completely different from its other forms too."

"_You think_?" Strada said from its watch form on Erio's wrist.

"_I wonder…_" Shinken said.

"You're right," I muttered looking at my glove. "Even with an extended blade, I still feel uneasy with so little space between the target and me. There's not much room for maneuvering so I have to learn to dodge using the smallest amount of movement possible or create a stronger barrier. Your tips do make things more manageable though." I added nodding to Subaru.

"Hee, hee, it's not problem. It is similar to my Revolver Knuckle after all."

"I guess I better get used to this thing…although I'll probably only use it in combination with the Guardian Armor."

"And I'll continue to train with Strada," Erio said.

"Let's do our best to overcome this trial!" I said as I thrust my fist into the air.

"Yeah!" Erio did the same.

-

After breakfast, Subaru, Teana, and I were doing some paperwork when the P.A. system chimed.

"Attention all members…would Private Lanstar please come to the Commander's room?"

Subaru and I looked over at Teana who was just as confused as we were.

"What did you do?" I whispered to her as she got up.

"Nothing that I know off," she whispered back as she got up and left the workroom.

After she left, I returned to the files I was reviewing before the announcement. It was pretty tedious work but I didn't do my fair share last time because I had that check-up.

"Hey, Kuro-kun?" Subaru asked after a couple of minutes. "Can I listen to you play that song again sometimes?"

"I told you right? That song is a special one that calms my nerves," I said as I looked at her. "I can't play it over and over again, or else it wouldn't be special anymore. Besides, it's for a piano."

"But, you played it so casually yesterday," she said, tilting her head slightly.

"I was just overly stressed, it was the first time I played it since I got to this world."

"You were stressed out because I gave you a gift?"

"What? No!" Crap, now I'm starting to feel embarrassed. I turned my head to the side before continuing. "That was…because I felt bad that I didn't get _you_ a gift, so I thought I could at least play that song for you…"

Damn it, this is embarrassing…I took a peek at Subaru. She was a bit red in the face as well…wait…oh crap…

"Oh…I see…well you really didn't need to give anything back," Subaru said laughing a bit while scratching the back of her head. "I really wasn't expecting anything…? What's wrong Kuro-kun?"

She finally noticed I was staring off at the space behind her. She turned around and stifled a cry of shock.

"N-Nanoha-san!"

Yep, our captain was standing there listening to our conversation.

"Socializing is fine, but please get some work done as well," She said smiling. How long was she there? How much did she hear?

As Nanoha-san walked towards her own station, Subaru turned to me with tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you say anything?" she asked me.

"Hey! I was in shock! Okay?" I argued. "She appeared there without me even noticing until after I stopped speaking…you should have figured it out from that!"

"How can I know from something as vague as that?"

"Oh, that reminds me…"

"Uwagh! Cough…cough!" Nanoha-san popped up behind Subaru again, causing me to shout out in surprise but I managed to turn it into a cough. Subaru almost fell out of her chair but managed to catch herself.

"Where's Teana?" Nanoha-san asked.

"S-she seems to be accompanying Commander Yagami to HQ, or something…" Subaru said as she pulled herself back into the chair.

"Oh, I see…"

"Are you doing some paperwork too, ma'am?" I asked her.

"That's right," She replied, leaning on the edge of the cubicle. "Lightning Squad is out investigating today, and the Sub-Commanders are off-duty. The three of us are the frontline members here today."

"That's…worrisome…" I muttered, sweating slightly.

Subaru also gave a nervous smile. "Let's pray nothing happens…right, Kuro-kun?"

"Y-yeah…"

I'll pray to whatever greater-being residing in this world…just let this day be uneventful…

"And what does Vivio do all day?" I asked.

"She's being taking care of by the dorm mother, Aina-san, and Zafira is on guard."

"I see…"

Ah! Better stop yapping and get back to work.

-

"And…done!" Subaru leaned back on her chair and stretched her arms above her head.

"Finally done sorting out all the data?" I asked as I continued to type away.

"Yeah, you're still not done?"

"No, I was done around half an hour ago."

"Then what are you doing?"

She walked over to me and looked over my shoulder at the screen.

"I felt that I really didn't know anybody in the squad, so I was just checking everyone's profiles."

"Oh, is that so?"

"There are just two things that bother me right now," I said as I scratched the back of my head.

"What's that?"

I pulled open my own file, which was pretty short and full of classified signs.

"Someone's been accessing my profile a lot, I wonder what they were looking for."

"H-how can you tell?"

I highlighted a section near my mug shot, magnified it, and opened the section. There was a counter there.

"H-how did you find that?" Subaru asked as she took a closer look at it

"I have a friend who is a skilled hacker and he said that everything on a computer has an access counter on it somewhere and he taught me how to look for them, among other things. Although I was surprised to see them here as well"

"I-is that so…? Then what is the second thing?"

"That."

I turned my head towards Nanoha-san.

"She's been staring nonstop at her monitor for the last forty-five minutes. I'm not even sure I saw her blink at all."

"Really…?" She looked over at Nanoha-san as well. We just stared at her for a while.

"See? She's not moving at all."

"Y-yeah…what amazing concentration…"

"Concentration…I guess that's one way to put it. In any case, let's let her know that we're done."

I stood up and we walked over to her desk.

"Nanoha-san?" Subaru called but she got no response from her. "Um…Nanoha-san?"

"Oi, Captain Takamachi!"

"Ah! Sorry…what is it?" She asked as she looked up at us. Seriously…what is so interesting that makes her zone out?

"Um…we just wanted to let you know that we finished the data sets," Subaru explained.

The two of us took a look at her monitor. As I should have guessed, there was information about Vivio.

"Ah…I see," She said as she quickly closed everything. "That's bad of me…especially since I told you two to get to work."

Yeah…practice what you preach damn it!

"No, not at all," Subaru said quickly.

The lunch bell rang a few seconds later.

"Oh, it's lunch time," Nanoha-san said quickly as she stood up. "I'm going back to the dorms and eat with Vivio, do you two want to come?"

That's not a good idea for me. I don't want to have anything to deal with that kid anymore. But before I could say anything…

"Sure! We'll be happy to!"

Subaru answered for us…damn it…I cant say no now…

-

"Speaking of Vivio, what are you planning to do with her?" I asked as we walked back to the housing complex.

"If we can find a family who'll accept her, that'd be the best," Nanoha-san said.

"That would be hard…" Subaru commented. "She's not normal, after all…"

I don't think anybody on this planet fits _my_ description of normal…but she was right. Vivio was found to be a clone, or more precisely an Artificial Mage from something called Project Fate. The major details of the project were restricted for me but I knew enough.

"You're right…" Nanoha-san said looking up towards the sky. "It'll take time to find one, so for now I think it would be best if I looked after her. I'm thinking of becoming her guardian, like Captain Fate was to Erio and Caro."

"That's great!" Subaru said, her eyes sparkling. "I'm sure Vivio would love that idea!"

"I wonder about that…" I muttered as we entered the building.

-

Nanoha tried explaining it to Vivio just looked confused.

"Like I thought…"

"She doesn't really understand it," Nanoha-san said with tired look at Subaru who wasn't sure what to say.

"What should we say so that she understands?" Subaru asked me.

"Why are you asking me?"

"You have a sister don't you? So you have the most experience out of us."

"Don't YOU have a sister too?" I asked as I pressed my forehead in deep thought.

I thought back to the short times I was around her. She's extremely clingy to Nanoha-san and me…although she was pretty scared of us back at the hospital…wait that's it!

I crouched down so that I could be at the same eye-level as Vivio.

"Basically, Nanoha-san will be your mama," I explained.

"Mama?" Vivo asked as she looked at Nanoha-san.

"Ah wait…you're only 19…that might cause some misunderstandings later on," I said quickly.

"That's okay," Nanoha-san said. "You can call me that if you want. Until we find your real mother, I'll be your 'mama' for a while. Is that okay with you?"

"Mama…?"

"Yes, Vivio?"

Vivio suddenly started crying and hugged Nanoha-san tightly. Subaru backed up a bit in surprise and I merely smiled. I took a cup of tea that Aina-san had laid out for us and started to drink from it as I admired this nice scene.

"Why are you crying? It's okay Vivio." Nanoha-san said as she stroked her hair.

I also bent down and wiped her tears with my handkerchief. "That's right, your mama's here for you now," I said.

She stopped crying and looked at me. I smiled at her as I took another sip.

"Papa…"

"PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFT!"

"WAAAAAAAAH!"

I set down the cup as I started to cough uncontrollably. I had spat out my tea like a hose right into Subaru's face.

"Gack…hack…s-sorry…cough…" I managed to say as I held onto my throat.

"I-it's okay…" she replied as she wiped her face with a towel handed to her by Aina-san. "It wasn't hot at least…"

Nanoha-san tried to stifle her laughter but she was failing miserably.

I pounded my back as I tried to catch my breath.

"Sorry, but I'm not your papa…" I said wiping my mouth with my sleeve.

"Not Papa?"

"No…sorry."

I patted her head apologetically. I have no interest in being forcibly tied to Nanoha-san like that.

"Then…Onii-chan?"

"Ah…"

I stopped patting her head and froze on the spot. It wasn't just me, the entire room seemed to have froze. The air was cold and the cheerful atmosphere was dissolving.

"K-Kuro-kun?"

Subaru's hand was on my shoulder and it snapped me out of my trance.

"Ah…uh…" I felt a little bit disoriented.

"Onii-chan…?"

"Y-yeah…I'll be your Onii-chan…"

I quickly stood up and smiled. "Onii-chan has to do something for a bit. He'll see you later okay?" I asked her and she simply nodded her head. I half-walked, half-ran towards the door and down the hall until I was out of earshot.

"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING?" I shouted as I slammed my arm into the wall. "You can't even take care of your own sister! What gives you the right to try and care for some orphaned brat?"

My head was throbbing again and I grabbed my face with my left hand. "You damn loser…are you trying to prove something? Trying to prove to yourself that you can do it again? You can't do anything right!"

"K-Kuro-kun?"

I wheeled around and saw Subaru standing there, looking worried and scared.

"S-Subaru…"

-

"I'm sorry you had to see that…"

"N-not at all…although I was surprised…to see the kind and funny Kuro-kun beating himself up like that."

We were sitting out in the back area again like last night.

I looked up at the bright blue sky.

"You know the night where I told you about myself?" I asked her.

"Y-yeah."

"Ka…no…Hikari told me to stop moping and return to my usual self that night. But the me that she calls 'my usual self' is just a bad coping mechanism I'm using to deal with my past trauma…it's the same with that song."

"Is it because of Vivio that you're acting like this?" Subaru asked.

"No…not just her." I started to explain my situation. "I get severe headaches and chest pains whenever I see people that remind me of my little sister…basically any little girl who is in pain, physically, like that video of Nanoha-san a ways back, or emotionally, like Vivio. I'm fine around Caro because she's currently happy with her life right now…I don't really get it myself. The physicians on my planet says that my mental state has been unstable ever since her accident."

"They tried putting me on medication to ease the strain, but it didn't work and in fact, seemed to make things worse, so I stopped taking them. They told me that if I wanted to get better, I had to come to terms with Sakura's accident and stop blaming myself for it."

"I tried…for two years I've tried every day. But I couldn't even be in the same room as her without breaking out in headaches and chest pains. Each day the attacks grew worse and worse until finally I had an attack when I simply tried to greet her from the top of the stairs. I fell down and broke my arm."

"At the hospital they determined that my sister was a threat to my well being, so they suggested that I go live with a relative or something. My parents wouldn't hear of it. They didn't want their son to move out of the house when he was only sixteen. I didn't want to either, but I knew I had to. So when my school let out for vacation, I decided to move out. About half a year after that, my parents vanished without a trace, leaving my sister alone without anyone to take care of her…"

"Kuro-kun…I think that's enough," Subaru said. "I'm curious about this, but I don't want to bother you anymore today."

For some reason…I started to laugh. Nothing was funny, but I just started to laugh.

"Heh…heh heh….heh hehehehe….hahahahaha…" I wasn't listening to her. The only thing on my mind was my past.

"I wanted to take Sakura in, but I couldn't even get near her, let alone live with her. So she was sent to live with some of my mom's relatives…heh hehehehehe…pathetic right? I'm pathetic right? The one person I cared more than anything else in the world needed me more than ever before, and I go insane whenever I see her. It's so pathetic, its funny! IT'S GOD DAMNED HILARIOUS!"

SMACK!

Subaru had stood up and slapped me so hard that I was sent flying off my feet.

"If it's so funny…then why are you crying?" Her voice was breaking and her hand was shaking. I felt the area where she slapped me. It was wet…my tears were flowing down like a river.

"You said that you always put up a 'mask' in order to cope with your tragedy…the fun, easy-going boy that doesn't know when to stop talking…that's who I thought you were when we first met. I thought that was the real you…but you say that it was all fake? That everything you said and did was just a lie?"

From down here I could see her face that she was hiding from me. She was crying.

"That everything was a lie…and this is the real you? Someone who belittles his existence so much that he doesn't care who he hurts by doing so?"

"Yeah…sorry to disappoint you," I replied. "Ensign Kurosawa Kuro" doesn't even exist. I'm just a civilian who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Someone who merge his past with a fake one, without it being a makeshift past at all. Everything was true, except for my parent's disappearing. They once had to go on a business trip and thought I had calmed down enough to take care of Sakura. But when they called me to ask about it, I hung up as soon as I heard her voice.

"I'm just a lowlife who's future is locked in his past…" I stood up and brushed myself off. "Although I say that I would simply charge through anything with a firm resolve…in reality I just want to run away from it all…"

SMACK!

Another slap from Subaru, but this one didn't have as much strength in it.

"Stop saying stuff like that!" she said as she grabbed onto my collar and slammed me into a tree. I glanced down at her hands. They were bright red from the slaps she gave me…I wonder what my face must look like right now…

"People can't judge themselves accurately, so to in order to understand themselves, they ask others close to them to describe them for them!" She said as her tears continued to flow. "You can't just create a 'mask' from nothing! Deep inside…that boy who laughs at his own faults…that gets in trouble with Sub-commander Vita every two minutes…that wants to protect everyone…that smiles so brightly…he's waiting for you to find him and let him out again!"

"…Maybe there was someone like that deep inside long ago…" I said softly and she looked up at my face. "However, he was kept inside his cage too long without ever seeing the light of day…so he died. You said it yourself, people need others close to them to tell them who they are. Did you not just describe me as 'someone who belittles his existence so much that he doesn't care who he hurts by doing so?' So it must be true then, right?"

Her eyes were wide in shock as she continued to look at me.

"I know who I am…and that is exactly who I am. I pushed away my family and those who called themselves my friends a long time ago. I remember what some of them said to me. 'It's great that you're back in school and smiling again…but you seem so cold and distant now.' A smiling face with no real emotion behind it. Isn't that what you saw?"

Subaru looked down at the ground and slowly let go of my collar. "There may not have been any emotion behind your smile…but you can't hide the emotions from your eyes or your heart."

She took a few steps back and gave me a salute. "I apologize for hitting you…Ensign Kurosawa." She then immediately turned around and ran back into the house.

"Hehheheh…I did it again…I pushed another person away from me…huh…what's going on?" My tears were coming out even faster and it felt like my chest was crushing my lungs. I slid down the base of tree and put my head in my knees and covered it with my hands. "Damn it…damn it…what the hell is wrong with me?"

"You're hurt, aren't you?"

"That voice…Kasumi?"

"Yes…"

I heard her footsteps draw closer to me and stop right in front of me.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"It's almost five."

"Wow…time sure flies when you're having fun…how long were you listening?"

"Around the time where Subaru hit you the first time…"

"Heh…funny…they were listening to us fight around the time you slapped me too…Teana and…Private Nakajima…"

"'Private Nakajima?' What's with that?"

"You heard her right? That whole 'Ensign Kurosawa' crap?"

She didn't say anything. She simply crouched down and hugged me.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"I'm sorry…" she muttered softly.

"What are you talking? You're acting weird again…"

"When Kyo-nii died…you were able to help me get through it…no matter how much I yelled at you and hit you…you always smiled and kept on getting me to do stuff with you."

"We were kids…we were just stupid little kids who didn't really understand anything."

"Maybe…but here we are now…the exact same situation, with our roles reversed…and I can't do a thing to help you…"

"It isn't the same…"

"It's exactly the same…Kyo-nii died in that fire trying to save me and I blamed myself for it, but you and your idiotic ways managed to get me to smile again. You blame yourself for Sakura-chan's accident and I thought I would be able too…no I thought I did help you. But it was just a 'mask' right?"

A small pain of regret filled my heart as I looked up at Kasumi, who also has tears in her eyes.

"But Subaru saw through it didn't she? That's what you wanted this whole time right? For someone to see through your skillful deception."

"Heh…you say it as if it's a bad thing…for a soldier to be able to hide his feelings."

"But you aren't a soldier…and even if you were…you're a human being first."

The pain in my chest was growing…but it wasn't like the attacks I use to have, this one was hurting more. Maybe Kasumi could tell me why…she was studying to go to a medical school after all.

"Hey…why does my chest hurt so bad?" I asked her.

"Did she punch you here as well?" she asked as she put her hand on my chest. "Where does it hurt?"

"Here." I moved her hand over the center of my chest just below my collarbone. "It's been throbbing for a while now…it's the first time its hurt this badly. I wonder if I'm developing heart problems?"

She thought to herself for a while before asking another question. "When did it start hurting?"

"After…Private Nakajima left."

She looked at me as if she wanted to laugh at me…no she is laughing at me.

"I'm sorry…heh heh…hahahaha…I'm terrible…I shouldn't be laughing at you…sorry."

"What the hell is wrong with me? Is it another mental problem?"

She sighed and took a deep breath before answering. "Yes, you could say that…although this is one of the most complicated ones."

"Give it to me straight damn it…"

She sighed again. "Normally I would joke about this, but I don't think you're in the mood right now. It's called heartbreak you idiot…"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about? Are you hearing the words coming out of your mouth?"

"I'm being serious about this! After the two of you had your argument and she called you, 'Ensign Kurosawa' you started to feel even worst than usual didn't you?"

"Well…yeah, but I don't see how…"

"Just listen to my explanation. You and Subaru have been on a first name basis ever since we got here so the two of you became pretty close right off the bat; you don't think that means anything? You, whose only female friend was me for the last eighteen years, suddenly make friends with another one so easily?"

"Well…I just thought…wow…you really have a point there…"

"You then felt comfortable enough around her enough to tell her about your family troubles, something that you hated doing even to us."

"Maybe…I just wanted to get it off my chest though…"

"Also, if you combine that with what you were doing this morning, it makes perfect sense."

"'What I was doing this morning?' What _was_ I doing?"

"You were staring at her the entire time you nerd," She said with a sly grin on her face. "I don't know everything that happened between the two of you…but you understand it now, right?"

"Yeah…I get it now…"

I liked Subaru Nakajima. I saw her as an irreplaceable friend, even more so than Kasumi whom I've known for years. Although I'm not sure how strong it is, I'm definitely attracted to her…but…

"But it doesn't matter now…" I mumbled. I stood up and pulled out the pendant she gave me the other day. From my anime experiences, I wonder if she liked me as well.

"Did she give that to you?"

"Yeah…although I'm not sure what kind of gemstone it is…"

"Here, let me see it." She asked holding out her hand.

"You know about gems?" I asked as I took it off and handed it over.

"Any girl should learn the language of gems, it's to measure how much they mean to their boyfriend."

She examined it carefully and let out a huge sigh.

"Well this is bad…"

"Huh? Does the gem mean something bad?" I asked quickly.

"No…quite the opposite actually," She said as she handed it back to me. "It's a unique combination of Sapphire and Aquamarine…as expected of this planet…being able to blend precious metals like that…anyway, aquamarine is believed to have the power to calm and soothe pain, indicating that she sympathizes with your pain. Sapphires let you tell a person that you are sincere with your feelings towards them. It offers a piece of your soul and assures your loyalty and faithfulness as a friend…basically she always wants to be around you in any way possible, as a friend…or something more."

"T-then…she also…that's why you said it was bad?" I asked.

"Yeah…she might be in love with you as well…"

I turned towards the path that Subaru ran down. If I had known about these feelings earlier…I…I…what would I have done?

"Why don't you go look for her?" Kasumi asked.

"But…I…she…"

"She's probably crying you know? The person she likes rejecting himself like that in front of her, and no matter what she did, couldn't get him to stop and eventually pushed him away. She must feel terrible about it."

"Kasumi…you sound like you know exactly what you're talking about…like I thought…you really…"

She pressed her finger on my lips to silence me.

"Ah…maybe I did feel like that at one point." She was looking down at her feet and not at me. "But you are someone who's existence is precious to me…it's like an attraction to the star at the top of a Christmas tree. No matter how much you love and want it, you know you can't have it. I love you like a brother and that's it, nothing more. That's the truth."

This time I hugged her tightly.

"Yeah…so we're just really good friends, right?" I asked.

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

As we parted, she gave me something, a jade bead bracelet.

"And jade means…?"

She walked down the path back inside the building before turning around at the entrance and smiling.

"Something precious."

* * *

A strong heart can accept the tides of change and cope with new things and lost things. My heart was weak and I've pushed another precious person away from me. Our feelings can only stretch out so far...will mine be able to reach them? My precious friends... Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Precious Things.

* * *

Author's Notes:

0.0

Holy freaking crap. Quite a heavy chapter isn't it? Emotion overloaded! Kasumi steps down from the harem standing of Childhood friend with the intention of just being friends! Sigh...i feel like things are progressing too quickly...maybe i'll do something after this is all and done?

Character update!

I have pictures to more accurately describe Kuro and Kasumi, but apparently this site won't allow links within the story XD.  
But no worrys, their images are in my Profile underneath the original characters tag


	12. Chapter 11: Precious Things

Author's Notes:

Well things are heating up aren't they? Around what episode are we on here...15...16? Well we know what should happen soon don't we? Well enough of my ramblings. Let's see how Kuro patches things up with Subaru, or will there friendship be shattered completely?

* * *

**Chapter 11: Precious Things**

"I wonder if this is okay?"

A few hours have passed since then and I was standing outside Teana and Subaru's room. This was the only place I could think to go. In my hands was my handmade bag of sweets as well as a letter of apology. I skipped evening practice to do this, so Nanoha-san might be a little mad at me.

I took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The door opened and Teana was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, it's you," She said after she saw me. "Is something up?"

Even though she was speaking in a soft tone, her expression was all I needed to know that Subaru told her what had happened.

"Um…is Subaru here?" I asked.

"No she's not."

Movement on the top bunk tells me otherwise.

"I see…well…when she comes back…can you tell her that I'm sorry and hand these to her for me?" I asked holding out the apology gifts.

"Why don you give…fine…I will…" She said taking the stuff out of my hands.

"Then goodnight!"

"Yeah…goodnight," I replied as she closed the door on me. I just stood there staring at the door not sure of what to do next. I took a deep breath stepped closer to the door and shouted, "I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking straight! Please forgive me!"

I then turned and hightailed it out of there as fast as I could.

As I entered my room I removed my uniform and sat down on my bed. Today was almost over. So many things happened today, I was scared I'd blow up from all the excess emotions.

I removed my gemstones and held each one in a different hand. Blue and green…even though they're just cheap gifts, they mean a lot to those two…I wonder what will happen tomorrow?

-

The next morning, I woke up earlier than I had planned. I tried to go back to sleep but I felt wide-awake. Sigh…I guess I'll go for a morning jog around the base.

I put on my training clothes as well as the gems and left my room as ken followed me.

It was a nice morning…the sun was shining, there were no clouds and the temperature was just right. Yep, just a peaceful ordinary morning…damn it's boring.

I headed over to the training grounds, climbed a tree and lied down on the branches. Ken also decided to rest on a branch next to mine. Huh, it's a lot more comfortable than I thought it would be. This would make a pretty good resting area. I wonder what Subaru's doing?

As if answering me, I heard some footsteps across from me in the training plain.

Subaru? What's she doing up this early?

She had her Barrier Jacket on; I guess she's just practicing.

I watched her practice from the shade of my tree. I really want to go and talk to her, but…I don't know what to say anymore, not to mention that I don't even know if she'll even talk to me anymore.

"Revolver…"

Huh? Why's she heading over here? Wait…I've never seen that attack before…what is she doing? Oh shit!

"Cannon!"

She smashed the tree I was sitting in and it fell over, with me in it!

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

"Huh? AH!"

CRASH!

"You know…it's nice to warn someone before you break the tree they're sleeping on," I said tapping my fingers on the ground.

"Sorry," Subaru said rubbing her head. "I didn't know you were sleeping up there…"

"That's fine…just get off of me…"

I fell from above her yet I somehow managed to get underneath her when I landed? How the hell does that work?

"Oh…sorry."

She crawled off of me and sat cross-legged in front of me. The two of us sat there in silence, occasionally adjusting our seating position. This was getting awkward for the both of us. Come on…I can do this…I can break the ice…

"Um…I want to apologize for everything I did yesterday…I wasn't really thinking." I said bowing my head down.

"N-no…you weren't doing anything wrong…I was the one who slapped you," She said looking away for a moment.

"No, I was just wallowing in self-pity and you didn't want to see me like that so…"

"But you just told me why you felt that way and I selfishly hit you…"

"Grah!! This isn't going anywhere!" I shouted rubbing my hands on the side of my head. "Let's have a sparring match! The one who wins can decide who was at fault!"

"Huh?!" She was looking at me with her eyebrows raised. "Why do you want to settle it like that?"

"I hate thinking seriously at stuff like this, so it's better to deal with it like this, and faster too." I sent Ken away to a branch equipped my Guardian Jacket and Knuckle weapon and got into a fighting stance. I also let Ken "You're like that too right?"

She looked at her hands for a bit before smiling and standing up as well. "Fine, but don't think I'm going to go easy on you!" She said bracing herself.

"I wouldn't want it any other way," I said as I smiled and the mask closed around my face.

_Sleipnir Wing!_

Small green wings appeared at the bottom of my boots allowing me to float a few centimeters off the ground. With this my fighting style will match hers, as I won't be able to fly without that bird.

"Get ready…cause here I come!"

She charged straight down towards me as I bent my legs to get some sort of foothold on the ground. I'll take this hit head on!

I grabbed her fist and stopped her in her tracks but my feet slid back a bit from the impact. She then did a flip from that position pulling her hand out of my grasp and bringing her leg down upon me, which I blocked with my arm.

Good you're serious about this! Then it's my turn!

I threw her off my arm and jumped towards her and tried to punch her but she activated her Wing Road and dodged it. I landed on top of it as well and started to chase her.

She turned around and was moving backwards along the Wing Road. I saw her Revolver Knuckle shoot out some empty charges; she was preparing an attack…well then me too!

A red glow from my hand and a blue glow from hers lit up our battlefield.

"Divine…Buster!"

"_First Shot! Dragon Fire!_"

A large blue beam collided with my wide red beam and exploded. The impact from the attacks colliding, made me spin around in mid air for a bit, but I was able to regain control. Seriously…we JUST started and she uses an attack like THAT? This is going to be a lot more enjoyable than I thought.

"Revolver…Shoot!"

Huh? Another attack already?

I did a back flip and some quick movements to my left and right to avoid them.

_"Flame Trail!"_

My own variation of her Wing Road, Flame Trail, allows me to burn across the sky without my wings.

The two of us continued to exchange small blows without making any direct hits.

Subaru was charging at me with another attack. It was that melee attack she used on my tree earlier.

Then I'll use my own special melee attack! I charged at her as well.

"Revolver…Cannon!"

_"First Fist! Jet…Magnum!"_

Our attacks hit our protection barriers and were at a stalemate. Her barriers were able to stand up to Lieutenant Vita's attacks as well as mine. Wait a minute…I'm being pushed back?

"Gear Second!"

Crap! She was increasing her speed!

_"Blade Impulse!"_

I heard a shattering noise and saw blue and black shards fly from our chests. Ah…our Protection barriers broke…

"AHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The two of us were sent flying off our sky paths and crashed on the field. Damn, it there's no way I'm going to lose! This is way too fun!

"I got you!"

What she's here already? I turned around to see her coming down at me and managed to catch her fist. I countered with my own punch but she caught it as well. She was smiling; I guess she was enjoying this as well.

We were locked in a stalemate…except for one thing. I'm much stronger than her!

"Whoa!"

I threw her onto the ground and stuck my gauntlet in front of her. I deactivated my Sleipnir Wing, so my mask opened up.

"Game…Set," I said as I started laughing. "Haha…that was…kind of fun…"

"Y-yeah…" Subaru replied as she started to laugh as well.

"Okay! That's enough!"

"Huh?"

We looked around and saw Nanoha-san and the others.

"Um…how long were you watching?" Subaru asked them.

"You know…that question is starting to get VERY old," I said as I helped her up.

"Since you started up your Wing Road," Teana said.

"Subaru-san, you were so close!" Erio said.

"You've gotten a lot better."

"Gin-nee!" Subaru said as she ran up to her. "But, I still have a long way to go."

Oh, that's Subaru's sister Ginga? They look nothing a like…maybe if Subaru grew her hair out…hmm…

"Um…why are you looking at me like that?" Subaru asked me.

"Huh? Uh…no reason…" I looked away quickly.

"Your responses weren't bad, " Lieutenant Vita observed. "But you lost to Kuro in strength, Subaru. And you need to hasten you recovery time, Kuro."

"Yes ma'am!"

I glanced at Subaru for a bit. She was beaming with confidence. I guess it was a good idea to have a little sparring after all.

"Okay! Everyone gather up," Nanoha-san called as we all lined up in the clearing. "It's a little sudden, but why don't we try a team battle with Ginga? The seven forwards against all the Captains, a four person team."

"Huh? Eh?" Ginga-san asked freezing up in shock.

"Um, this happens time to time, Gin-nee," Subaru said.

"The captains will come at you quite seriously so…" Erio said

"You better be prepared to run," Kasumi finished.

"First use your knowledge of the area and illusionary magic to run from place to place," Teana advised.

"And try to match our rhythm so you don't slam you Knuckle into someone's, face, cough mine cough," I added looking at Subaru who looked off into the distance nervously.

"And by some chance you are able to land a hit on them, they're counted as out," Caro added.

She was still in shock. Her face was funny to look at.

"You have the same kind of device as Subaru, right Ginga? Except on the left hand?"

"Correct."

"Then, let's go at it!"

"Um…can I sit this out since I just fought Subaru?" I asked raising my hand slightly.

"Nope," Vita said immediately. "You're not running away from this. I've yet to fight you in your Guardian armor."

"Aww man…"

-

"We'll end with this today," Nanoha-san said after the battle ended in our lost.

"Everyone release your protective clothing!" Vita ordered.

"Yes ma'am…"

Man I'm freaking tired…

"You guys were close," Signum said.

"If you just pushed a little harder," Fate-san said.

Close? We didn't even hit anyone!

"Darn it! If only that last combination went well!" Teana said.

"How frustrating!" Subaru moaned.

"I guess I wasn't able to keep up…" Ginga-san said apologetically.

"No…at least you didn't hit me like your sister did the first time we trained together."

"Geez…can't you let that go?" Subaru asked.

"I couldn't eat for half a day because of that! I'm not going to let that go that easily!"

"Enough fooling around," Vita said. "While you still remember this, go right a reflection report about this battle."

"Yes ma'am."

"Why does this sound like a school punishment?" I asked.

"Do you have a problem with that?"

"N-no…" But I have a problem with what you'd do to me if I had a problem…

"After you've rested a bit, let's cool down and finish up," Nanoha-san said. "Good work!"

"Thank you very much!"

-

"It's amazing to think that you guys do something like this every morning," Ginga-san said as we started to do some stretches.

"A battle with the Captains is a bit special…" Subaru explained.

"Thankfully…" I interrupted as I hoisted Kasumi on my back so she could stretch her waist.

"It's usually just stuff like this," Erio added.

"They need to push us to our limits so that we'll be okay if we're deployed," Teana explained who was helping Caro stretch.

"But they don't go overboard with it," Kasumi noted looking at Teana who laughed nervously.

"Still, it's rather tough," Caro chipped in.

"And, after practice, we eat a lot, rest up, and we're completely restored," Subaru said.

"I see…"

"Hey, speak for yourself!" I said as I bent down to reach my toes. "Remember that time your Wing Road disappeared from underneath me? I still have cuts from crashing into that tree!" Another part of me still hurts all the way back from day 1 of the training, but with so many girls around it's no appropriate of me to say where.

"I said I was sorry already!"

"Um…Subaru?"

"Hmm? What is it, Gin-nee?"

"Do you…um?" She asked looking at me.

"It's Kuro."

"Sorry…do you hate Kuro?" she asked looking at Subaru.

"Huh? Eh?!" Subaru's eyes widened and she looked at her sister and then me. "W-why do you ask that?"

Where did this come from? I looked around and noticed the others looking at Subaru right now. I'm a little worried about her answer.

"Because…every time he talks about you, it's about him getting hurt from something you did…"

"Um…I…well…no I don't…I don't hate him…"

Hmm…I should be glad, but you normally wouldn't say that you hate someone within earshot of that person.

"I see, then Kuro-san," Ginga-san then looked at me. Oh shit, I can feel what's coming next. "What do you think of Subaru?" Crap, the question's even worse than I thought it would be! The situation has put me in the spotlight.

Okay…think! How should I answer this? I need an answer fast! If I answer that she's a good friend, it might just stop there. If I say that I like her…I…but if I say I don't…but I don't hate her…shit…shit…shit…shit…SAY SOMETHING YOU DOLT!

"It's never a dull moment around her."

I think it's an ambiguous and safe answer for the moment.

"Is that so?" Ginga-san asked. "Well, if you get hurt every time you're around someone, I'm sure you wouldn't consider that dull."

"G-Gin-nee…"

"Haha…that's a bit harsh," I said waving my hand slightly. "It's not like I get hurt _every _time I'm…" I stopped in the middle of my sentence.

Wait a minute…I wonder about that sentence…let's see…well I get hurt training with her, but that's to be expected with this Spartan like training. Well that time she was telling us about Tea's past…wait she dropped her drink while I was walking out the door and I tripped on it and slammed my head onto the doorway. The time we raced into the city? Ah right…I hit my head during a turn and that's how they won…Oh yeah! That time when I told Teana and Subaru about Sakura I didn't get…wait…they were around when Kasumi slapped me…And then there's yesterday where she slapped me…holy crap, I do get hurt whenever she's around me…what are the odds of that?

Ginga-san seemed to take my sudden silence as a confirmation. "Wow…you're bad luck to him. He looks like he's trying to find a time where he didn't get hurt." What sharp intuition you have lady!

"No, he get's hurt like that on a regular basis," Kasumi said coming to Subaru's rescue.

"But, since they're on the same squad, isn't she around on a regular basis?"

I could hear the north wind blow across the field as we all fell silent. She's really enjoying this isn't she? She's enjoying teasing her little sister like this isn't she? Well my sudden silence didn't help at all…Subaru looks like she's about to cry in embarrassment.

"O-oh look! It's Vivio!" I said loudly pointing at her as she came running towards Nanoha-san and Fate-san. Everyone turned around to look. Thank god, a distraction!

"Mama!" She called out. I quickly plugged my ears and closed my eyes for a second before opening them again. I didn't want to hear that word.

"Vivio!" Nanoha-san called back.

"It's dangerous," Fate-san said.

"Don't fall on your face!" I told her.

"Okay! Ah…"

"Ah…" Everyone gasped at the same time.

"She fell…" Caro said.

"Yeah, she did." Erio replied.

"You're a jinx," Kasumi said smacking me along side the head.

I covered my mouth and wrapped my arm around my stomach as my body started to shake.

"Ah! Kuro are you okay?" Subaru asked quickly as she walked towards me.

"Ah…I'm sorry that I hit you!" Kasumi said as she bent down and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"N-no…it's okay…" I said squeezing my mouth closed.

"Are you okay? Should we get you to the infirmary?"

"N-no! No…I'm…not…" Oh crap…it's coming out…my tears are coming out. Shit, I can't do it! Not out here!

Fate rushed over and pulled Vivio, who was just about to start crying, up. Whew…that was close. I started to calm down.

"Um…why are you two huddling around Kuro-san like that?" Ginga-san asked.

"W-well he suddenly just bent over, so I was just worried," Kasumi said quickly.

"Isn't that because you hit him?"

"I may hit hard, but not that hard…"

She and Subaru looked at me as if wondering what they should say, so I gave them a look that said, "Tell her ANYTHING and I will make sure you no longer have any moment of peace for the rest of your lives!"

"Um…Kuro-san and Hikari-san have been friends even before they joined the TSAB," Erio explained. "And Subaru-san is in his squad, so it's natural they'd worry about him."

"Hmm…I see…" She looked at the two of them with interest.

"Oi, we're heading back in now!" Vita said.

"Yes ma'am!"

As we walked back to the HQ, Teana whispered into my ear. "Are you sure you're okay? It was your condition right?"

"How did you…oh wait…I probably know…don't worry about it…I'm fine," I said quickly glancing at Subaru. Anyways…I couldn't tell them…the reason I was crouched over like that…I couldn't tell them it was because I was dying of laughter…

-

We were all in the mess hall having lunch. Commander Yagami and her Knights were also there to join us.

They were at one table, Nanoha-san and Fate-san were sitting with Vivio, and the Forwards were all together as well.

"But seriously," Teana said as she looked over at Vivio. "Children sure do switch between crying and laughing in an instant."

"Subaru was like that too when she was little," Ginga-san said.

"Eh? I-is that so…?" Subaru muttered blushing.

"Rein-chan was too," Dr. Shamal said as she looked at Rein who was attempting to eat with a fork almost as big as her.

"Eh?! Rein was an adult from the beginning!" She argued.

"Don't lie," Signum interjected.

"On the outside maybe, but you were just like a little baby on the inside," Vita teased.

"Hayate-chan! That's not true right?" She asked the Commander, who laughed.

"I wonder…"

"I'm sure, well I KNOW, we were all like that at some point in our lives, even if we don't remember it," I said taking a sip from my drink.

"Ah! Vivio, you can't leave your green peppers out," Nanoha-san said suddenly.

"Ugh…I don't like bitter things!" Vivio whined.

"What? But they're good," Fate-san said.

"If you don't eat properly, you won't get bigger."

Vivio continued to groan.

"You know," Commander Yagami said as she turned around in her chair. "If you're too picky, you won't become beautiful like your moms."

"Huh? She's fine just the way she…GAH!"

Kasumi had grabbed onto the back of my chair and pulled it down so that I'd fall over and not complete my sentence.

"Don't drag your weird hobbies into the real world…" She muttered glaring at me.

"Yes ma'am…"

"Hobbies?" Subaru asked.

"Don't worry about it.'

"Many thanks that at least _someone_ can keep my secrets…" I muttered as I straightened my chair up again.

"Ah..." Subaru flushed and looked down at her plate as everyone laughed.

-

"You're going for a check-up?" I asked Subaru.

"Yep, at the Clanagan Medical Center."

Yeah…no idea where the hell that is…

"Does Section Six not have the proper equipment?"

"Don't worry too much about it, Kuro," Teana said. "She goes there for a yearly check-up."

"Fine, I'll drop it." I said as I returned to my writing my report. "Are you sure you'll make it on time?"

"Ah, I better hurry!" Subaru said. As she started to walk away Teana called her.

"Oh yeah Subaru," She said as Subaru turned around. "You know those things you bought for me when you had those medical exams last time?"

"Oh, the Chocolate Pods?"

"Yeah, those. I'll help pay for them so get some for the captains and the others. You want some too Kuro?" She added turning to me.

"Wait, so I wasn't included in 'others?'"

"You're a guy right? You shouldn't let girls pay for your food."

"Are you picking a fight? Whatever…sure I'll try some…and I'll pay for them," I added rolling my eyes.

"You heard him, he'll pay for all of them."

"I never said that!"

"Heh? Your making girls pay?"

"I…you…there's no way I'm paying for eleven people! I'll pay for four at the most!"

"Tch, you're cheap."

"I don't want to hear that from you!"

"Now, now…it's okay Kuro-kun, it's thanks for those sweets last night."

Oh, it's "Kuro-kun" again. That's good.

"It's not needed to give a thanks to an apology," I said.

"Don't worry about it. See ya later."

After she left the room Teana turned to me with her arms crossed.

"What?" I asked.

"Don't 'what' me!" She snapped at me. "What happened last night?"

I sighed and leaned back on my chair.

"I was being an ass, nothing new."

"Please take this seriously!"

"You're asking _me_ to take things seriously?"

"Kuro!"

"Sigh…sorry couldn't help myself. But didn't you already hear it from Subaru?"

"Just the stuff about your sister, nothing else."

I sighed again before straightening my chair and told her what happened exactly as I remembered it.

"I see…"

"Like I said, 'I was being an ass,' and she was upset about it."

Things about my attraction and things after she left will be my and Kasumi's secret.

"Well, that's fine."

She went back to work with just that.

"That's it? No yelling, no hitting, no threats?"

"You already apologized and she's back to normal already. There's really nothing more to say about it. I just wanted to know what happened."

"Heh…you really do care about Subaru, don't you?"

"I care for all the people in our team." She replied.

"Oh, then me too?"

"You, I can care less about."

"Ouch, how blunt…"

-

It was nighttime now at Section 6.

Like last night, I was out back resting amongst the trees, waiting for her. Oh here she comes now.

"Kuro-kun!"

"You're late, Subaru."

I hopped down from my tree as she got close.

"Sorry," She said as she clapped her hands together in an apologetic way. "I told Tea I was going to take a shower."

"What a clichéd excuse…"

She laughed a bit and I smiled. In my apology letter, I asked her to come out here tonight so we could talk. I'm glad that even though we sorted everything out, she still came out here.

"Want to go for a walk?" I asked her.

"Sure."

"Not going to slap me today right?" I joked as we headed into the forest.

"So long as you remain a gentleman, I won' have to," she replied.

"Me? A gentleman?" I grabbed my chest and pretended to be offended. "How could you even suggest that?"

"Haha, yeah…"

We walked a little bit further in silence, enjoying one another's company.

"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you this," Subaru said suddenly as she pulled out a piece of paper from her pocket. "What's this at the bottom?"

It was the apology I wrote last night. She was pointing to a phrase at the very end of the letter.

"Those are lyrics," I said after I took a look using the moonlight.

"For what?"

I took out my harmonica and played a few measures of "The Song of the World."

"Oh! I see now!" She said as she looked at the lyrics. "Wow, they appeared in my head as you played them."

"Yeah, that's why I like it so much," I explained as I put it back in my pocket. "Kyo's music always has people say that they can hear the lyrics in the instrumental part of the song."

"Hikari-chan must have been proud of him, huh?" Subaru asked as she put the letter away.

"Heh…you have no idea. Kyo was a nice guy. I mean that literally, he was a real nice guy. He always helped people around him even if he ends up missing appointments and stuff, he never lies, and he almost never gets angry at anything. Some people used to calm him naïve, but he didn't care. Hell he even took it as a complement. Heh, I guess I really looked up to him back then."

I looked up at the moon as I walked down the path.

Subaru clutched her arm as she followed me.

"It must've been painful," she said softly.

"Heh, yeah…it was. He was one of those people who gave off an aura that he'll always be around…and then…"

I sighed as I scratched the back of my head.

"Let's talk about something less depressing shall we?" I asked looking at her.

"Would it be bad if I said 'No'?" She asked, her face pointed towards the ground.

"Maybe…just a little. Why?"

She took a deep breath and looked at me before speaking.

"Because you don't use a 'mask' when you talk about your past."

I looked at her in surprise. She can see through me so easily, it feels like I'm a ghost or some other transparent being.

"Sorry," I said as I leaned on a tree. "Like I said, it's not my story to tell. Unlike you, I want to keep my promise." I added with a small laugh.

"Geez, I said I was sorry."

"I've heard that one before." I said as I continued walking down the path. "If Hikari wants to talk about it, she will. But I don't want you to ask her about…IT?!"

My foot got caught in a root and I tripped and my face landed in a mud puddle.

"Uwah…that's got to hurt…" Subaru said as she helped me up. "Maybe Gin-nee was right…you do get hurt around me."

"Bad luck!" I said quickly as I wiped the mud off my face. "It was just bad luck combined with my clumsiness!"

"Then you certainly have a lot of bad luck." She said as she laughed.

Her laugh…her tears…her smile…every bit of her existence calms me down. But I'm scared of saying anything about it. So many anime and manga have plots where close friendships are broken by such a thing. It's like the person you like is standing across a gorge and when you confess, it's like you jump across it, hoping that they'll catch you on the other side. And I'm too scared to make that jump without knowing what her feelings are. I should just enjoy this moment while it lasts.

"Hmm? Why did you stop?"

I turned around and noticed that there was quite a distance between the two of us right now. I walked back towards her.

"Is it because I'm covered in mud right now? Or did you want to head back?"

She shook her head.

"I was just thinking," she said.

"About what?"

"Today."

"Ah, you mean the situation your sister put us in? That was a big pinch wasn't it?" I asked, laughing.

"Yeah…but what you said made me feel happy."

"Huh? What I said?"

"That there's never a dull moment with me."

"I-I see," I said as I scratched my head. "I really feel that way, you know? And it's not because I have to be wary of random painful things that may or may not happen to me."

She laughed a bit again.

"Hey, Kuro…when Section 6's activation period expires…what do you plan on doing?"

Obviously, I'd be looking for a way to remove the gloves but I can't tell her that.

"P-probably just return to my post on the Claudia," I said.

"I see…sorry if it's not my place to suggest this but…shouldn't you go visit your sister?"

"Heh…believe me when I say I really want to do that…but…you know?"

"I'm sure she misses you just as much as you miss her. You two haven't seen face to face in…three years was it?"

"Yeah…give or take a few months."

"It must be hard…I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see Gin-nee."

"And I hope you never have to find out."

She looked at me after I said this. Her green eyes seemed to shine in the darkness.

"This entire time we've been walking…you haven't been using a 'mask' at all. Everything was from the bottom of your heart wasn't it?"

"To be honest, I really can't tell anymore…I'm not happy about it either."

"If you can just come to terms with that accident…you'd probably return to just being you, right?"

"I don't know. I hope I can," I said shrugging. "No…I really want to." It was probably this half-assed attitude that kept me from getting better. I should've beat this disease ages ago…no I shouldn't have ever gotten this in the first place. I clenched my fist in determination. "Almost more than anything else in the world, I want to see my sister again."

"'Almost?' There's something more important than that?" Subaru asked.

I released my clenched fist and stared at Subaru.

"Yeah…just one thing…"

If I'm going to stop with my half-assed attitude, now's a good a time as any to begin. I just hope it'll turn out for the best.

"And that is?" Subaru asked.

I took a deep breath. Time to pray and take that jump!

"You."

"…Eh?" She looked confused for a second before her my word started to sink in and her face slowly changed to that of shock. "EHHHHHH?! W-why?"

"I realized it after you left and called me 'Ensign Kurosawa.' My chest…rather my heart started to ache more than it did when I have an attack, and I couldn't stop crying. It felt like I had been clearly and utterly rejected."

I took another deep breath, clenched my fists, and prayed again.

"Private Subaru Nakajima! I love you!"

The light shines upon those who struggle to reach it. Like a blind man whose eyes can once again see, my darkness has been broken. However that is but a fleeting moment. Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Berserk

* * *

Author's Notes:

Nuff Said...

Well not really. The best way to make up with someone? Pound the hell out of each other, it relieves stress and if you can laugh about it later, then that means everything's fine and you're friends again. I went back and actually checked when I wrote this...almost everytime Kuro is beaten or hurt, or some comedic thing happens, Subaru is always around XD. I didn't do it intentionally mind you. When I was writing Kuro's statement after Ginga's comment, I was like..."Hmm...really?" So i went and check. You can check too if you don't believe me XD. Of course it might not actually say Subaru was there...oh and i made up the tripping after Tea's story part so dun worry if you went, "Huh? When this happen?"


	13. Chapter 12: Berserk

Author's Notes:

Hmm an interesting title after a love confession isn't it? Well I have my reasons...let's hope you don't hate me for this. Oh by the way, Anime Expo 2008 at the LA Convention Center! I'll be there!! So that's the reason i'm uploading this chapter today. Monday and Wednesday will have normal updates, friday depends if i have time on my comp or not.

* * *

**Chapter 12: Berserk**

A confession from the heart is the hardest and riskiest thing a person can do in his lifetime. It can leave a person happy for the rest of his life, it can completely destroy it, or nothing would change at all. That's what I've heard. I've also heard that each moment of time between the confession and the reply felt like years. They weren't freaking kidding…

Subaru looked as if she was frozen in shock from my sudden confession. And as if by fate, the moon was blocked by the clouds so I couldn't see her expression.

"W-why?" she asked finally. "We've only known each other for a few weeks."

"Isn't that enough time?" I asked back. "You've practically know everything about me"

I apologize for not letting you know my real name. But I have my reasons to hide it as well.

"But…but didn't you hug Hikari-chan last night?"

I opened my eyes in shock but it lasted only a second. Seriously, is there ANYWHERE private in this place?

"It was a hug between friends. She was helping me sort my feelings out, I thanked her."

She was shaking her head as if she can't believe me. "You're joking right? This is just a very good joke right?"

"If it was, you'd know right away right?"

My patience was slowly wearing out.

"But…I…I'm not…"

"Damn it, Subaru!" I said as I grabbed her shoulders. "Why can't you just accept it? You're killing me here!"

"But I…don't…"

I felt as though an arrow was shot at my heart. No…wait! It might not be what I think it is. Let her finish before jumping to conclusions!

"I don't…I don't know how to respond. I'm clumsy, I don't really stand out, and I'm not very feminine at all."

"Those things don't matter to me! All I need is one word!"

I was growing desperate and nervous with each passing second. This anxiety inside is making me feel like I'm about to explode.

"Please…just answer me…"

I let go off her shoulders and took a step back. I wanted to look away as tears were falling down my face. But I didn't want to back down. Not from something as important as this.

"Even though we'll be separated once Section 6 is disbanded, even though we may never come across each other again…you still…"

"Yes…with every fiber of my being."

I heard her sniff and wipe her eyes with her sleeve. Then she jumped and hugged me so hard that I lost my balance and landed on my butt.

She started to cry out loud, like a child who lost her way. Not sure of what to do, I simply hugged her back.

I slowly took my harmonica and started playing that song again. Maybe I understand what you were feeling now…Kyo…you really loved this world didn't you? Well…Earth anyways.

Tonight…Subaru and I…we are now officially a couple.

-

A few days have passed since then and nothing has really changed in our daily routine. Except that we're more overly conscious of each other. I'm also slowly remembering the 'me' from 3 years ago, before the accident. Maybe this was what I needed all along? A person to help me see the positive things in life.

Now, for the first time since we that near helicopter disaster incident with what HQ called Combat Cyborgs, we've been deployed again. This time we were to guard a military public press conference.

"So, tomorrow the press conference finally begins," Commander Yagami explained to us. "The area's already been locked down in preparation for the conference at 1400 hours tomorrow. Captain Nanoha, Sub-Commander Vita, Master Sergeant Rein, and the Forwards will be heading out now. They'll take the night shift."

Guarding a bunch of military suits and bigwigs…and for over twelve hours at night? Just kill me now…

"Has everyone rested well?" Fate-san asked.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Sub-Commander Signum, Captain Fate, and I will arrive at the morning. Until then, I'll leave it up to you."

"Yes ma'am."

-

"Really, I'm proud of you."

"Hmm? Why's that?"

"You actually had the guts to confess."

"Heh, you think too little of me. But I'm surprised you noticed something like that."

"Heh, heh, _you_ think too little of me. I can tell from the slight changes in your behaviors with one another."

"Is that it? Impressive."

"That as well as Subaru was being…well…Subaru."

"Sigh…I thought so…"

Our usual friendly banter hasn't changed at all. It was nice. I feel like I've received or at least kept everything important to me. Now, the only problem remains is…

"Are you going to be okay?" Kasumi asked as we boarded the helicopter.

"Yeah…I can't keep on running away from that my entire life. After this is over, I'm going to return home…not to that empty apartment, but my real home."

"You've really grown more mature in these last few weeks."

"No way. I'm still the loveable idiot you all know and love." I said as we took our seats and waited for the others to come up.

"Hey, Kuro! Someone wants to say goodbye!" Teana said as she climbed on.

"Who?" I asked as I poked my head out the chopper. "Ah…"

""Mama…Onii-chan…"

Vivio…

"What are you waiting for?" Kasumi asked. "Get…going!"

"GAH!" She kicked me out of the chopper and I landed with a thud. Damn it…can't I go ONE day without falling flat on my face?

"What's wrong, Vivio?" Nanoha-san asked. I got to my feet and dusted myself off before walking next to her.

"Sorry Captain Nanoha…" Aina-san said. "She said she wanted to see you off no matter what."

"Haha, what a troublesome kid," I said as I patted Vivio on the head.

"You shouldn't be so selfish to Aina-san," Nanoha-san said as she playfully tugged on Vivio's nose.

"Well, this is the first time that she's seen you on night shift Nanoha," Fate-san explained. "I guess she's just nervous."

"Oh, is that so?" Nanoha-san asked before turning back to Vivio. "I'll be staying out tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow night for sure."

"Really?"

"Don't worry," I said pounding my chest. "Onii-chan here will make sure everything will be fine."

"If you wait like a good girl, I'll have your Onii-chan make you those caramels you like."

"Eh, I will?"

The two of them looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Sigh…fine."

Nanoha and I then stuck our pinky fingers out to Vivio.

"It's our promise, okay?"

She nodded and wrapped her fingers around ours, and the promise was sealed.

After we all boarded the helicopter, and it took off, I slumped down and let out a sigh.

"I think you did pretty good back there," Subaru whispered as she sat down next to me. "You weren't sweating or hyperventilating like last time,"

"I'm tired…wake me up when we get there okay?" I asked her as I hanged my head.

"Okay, good night."

"Yeah…night."

-

"Morning…still tired…want to sleep…"

"Suck it up, don't you usually watch anime marathons back at home?"

"But that's actually fun! We've been standing around for the past thirteen hours counting trees and stars." Not really but it's a nice imagery for my boredom.

"Why don't you go for a walk then?" Kasumi asked. "I can handle the roof by myself for a bit."

There were monitors around her so she could bolster the radar capabilities of the building. Occasionally she would shoot an arrow out to a new position and another monitor would appear.

"Did that when we first got here, I now know every inch of the outside of this building so I cam use my Shadow Step to get to any breach in our perimeter."

"Despite saying that this is boring, you sure are working hard."

"If you have to do something, might as well do it right, right?"

"Whatever. Anyway shouldn't you be hanging out with Subaru instead of me?" She asked as she fired another arrow off into the distance.

"Her sister is around and she doesn't want to be teased again like last time," I replied as I lied down on my back and looked up at the sky, my eyes following Ken who was circling around us. "I would check out the interior as well, but I'm not allowed to bring my device inside so Shinken can't record the data. What kind of stupid rule is that? What if an enemy breaks in and those inside are stuck without outside reinforcements? What are they going to use to defend themselves? Those standard issue staffs that have the fire power of a water gun compared to a device?"

"Yeah, even the Captains aren't allowed to bring their devices in," Kasumi said as she sat down beside me. "They must really believe that these walls are impenetrable."

"They thought that in that one movie as well. All it took was one bomb and a million ladders to prove them wrong."

"Shut up, you're a jinx you know?"

"I wonder about that…I just can't shake this feeling I'm getting…I'd feel better if I could explore the layout of this building."

"Hmm…I think I have a way you can get the data without actually exploring it yourself," Kasumi said as she stood up.

"Really? I'm all-ears."

She formed another one of her radar arrows and aimed it straight up.

"These arrows are used to identify what type of enemy is heading towards us," She explained as she pulled back on the energy string. "Theoretically I should also use them to figure out the specs of this building as well. But since it's so big I may need more than just one."

"_Radar Field with Multi Arrow!_" Rho Aias said as Kasumi launched the arrow, which split into four in the sky and landed safely away from anyone on the ground. A monitor popped up revealing a diagram of the building.

"Wow…that worked a LOT better than I expected…"

"What happened?" I asked as I looked at it.

"It not only shows the building's structure like a blueprint, but it also shows how many people there are and where the security cameras are! And to top it off, it's even auto-updating!"

"Wow…this is like the ultimate intelligence weapon…no wonder the TSAB doesn't want these gloves in evil hands." I muttered looking at them. I put my glove on the monitor and it began to flash a bit.

"_Data connection established and receiving building schematics and intelligence. Information will be updated every ten minutes._" Shinken informed me.

Well…nothing to do now but to wait for the Press Conference to begin and end. Only three more hours until launch time.

-

Four hours have past since the conference started, and nothing has happened. Everyone was starting to get a little restless.

"Hey Kuro! Hikari! Is anything showing up?" Teana asked.

"I'm getting so sick of answering that question!" I shouted. "There is nothing showing up. There wasn't anything showing up ten minutes ago, there wasn't anything showing up FIVE minutes ago, and when you ask me again in another five minutes, my answer will still be, 'There is nothing showing up!'"

"Geez is it hard just to report in?"

"It is when you expect us to every five freaking minutes!"

"Now, now don't fight!" Subaru said to us. "Let's just do our best until the very end."

"Yeah!"

"Sigh…Teana really is on edge," I said as I looked at some of the monitors Kasumi set up

"We all are," Kasumi replied. "The Captains all think that this place is a primary target for a terrorist attack after all."

She pressed a few keys and moved onto another monitor.

"Hmm?"

"Something wrong?" I asked quickly.

"I'm not sure…I thought the sensor picked something up…but it disappeared…AH!"

All of the monitors started beeping uncontrollably.

"What the hell? Large energy reactions are appearing in all the areas! What's going on?"

"_My lord, an enemy has been detected within the perimeter!_" Rho Aias said.

"What? Where is it?" Kasumi asked as she looked through the monitor of the HQ building. "In the control room?! Another in the power generator?"

"_Several explosions confirmed! We have a breach!_"

"Damn it! This is Ensign Kurosawa Kuro of Section 6 Riot Squad to all defensive units! We have a perimeter breach! I repeat! We have a perimeter breach! Enemy Attack!"

No sooner as I issued the news there were Gadgets surrounding the building.

"Damn it! Hikari, continue to provide Intel on this battle! I'm going to help below!"

"Roger!"

"Shinken! Lock and Load!"

"Rho Aias! Engage!"

With our Barrier Jackets up we began to try and repel the attackers. I performed a unison with Ken and got my wings for my Guardian Form and leapt off the roof and dived down.

"Kuro! A large energy attack is heading towards the building 100 meters below your location! Impact in t-minus 5 seconds!"

"Damn it!" I descended as fast as I could and activated a Protection barrier in front of the building. However I only managed to get half of blasts and they blew a hole in the wall behind me.

What happened? The barrier was imperfect!

_My lord, a large Anti-magic Field has been placed in the area. It is impossible to fully focus the energy into the barrier._

Are you screwing with me?

"This is Ensign Hashimoto Hikari of Section 6 Riot squad to all forces! The enemy is using a paralyzing agent along and within their attacks! Proceed with caution!" Her voice rang throughout the building.

Phew…at least those people weren't dead.

"Solider Form!"

I returned to my standard samurai armor and transformed my sword into my spear again.

"Tempest…Blade!"

I launched my favorite attack at them but the AM Field was so strong that I barely destroyed any of them. I better back off for now.

"Kuro! Teana and the others are having trouble! They're somewhere between the seventh through thirteenth floor!" Kasumi said.

"Are you serious? The AM Field and jamming is messing with even your sensors? But narrowing it down to seven floors makes it easier for me. I'll handle it!"

"Roger, I'm moving underground to assist in the evacuation!"

Well then, let's get in the building as fast as possible.

_My lord, Shadow Step is unusable in this condition. The Anti-magi Field will make navigation to desired points impossible._

Damn, we have to do it the old fashion way, huh?

I held up my hands and started counting on my fingers.

Seventh…eighth…ninth…tenth…that's it!

"Blade Impulse!"

But as I was about to charge into the tenth floor…

_My lord! _

Shit!

I threw my left arm backwards just in time as a blade came out of nowhere and just sliced the tip of my bangs off.

I regained my balance and looked at my attacker. A female with two scythe-like blades stood before me.

"Tch, you cut my hair, lady!" I said as I grasped my spear with both hands.

"I apologize," She said as she got into an attack stance. "I won't miss your neck this time."

"Just try it…hah!"

I swung my spear behind me and it hit someone who tried to sneak up on me.

Although my spear made contact, she managed to block it before I sent her flying towards my first assailant. This person had purple lights coming out of her legs.

"Gee, I got two girls coming after me, it's like I'm back at school already! Sorry but I'm already taken," I joked as I braced myself for their next attack.

"To be able to block my Ride Impulse…you are no lowly grunt," the one with the light legs said.

"Ride Impulse?" I repeated. "Heh, it has some impressive speed, I'll give you that much, but can it match my Blade Impulse?"

I charged straight forward towards the second attacker with a quick thrust but she avoided it and countered with a kick that I easily ducked. My first attacker then swung on of her blades down at me and I managed to block it by pushing the back end of my spear up to knock the blade and then flew straight to get out of her range only to run into the second person again.

This time her kick connected to my face sending me flying upwards. I managed to turn my spear around and unleashed a fury of stabs behind me when the first one tried to get behind me for another attack to fend her off.

Shit! A 2-on-1 fight is tougher than I thought…these two are on par with Sub-Commander Signum in speed and dexterity…

"Hikari! I could use some help!"

There was no reply…crap; I guess the jamming has left everyone isolated. This is going to be a pain in the ass.

If I'm going to win I need to stay on the defensive until I can find an opening to either retreat and locate the others, or beat them…the second one is unlikely as they're covering for each other perfectly…they must be Combat Cyborgs…

They split up and appeared in front of me and behind me. It's going to be hard to keep track of their movements now…as if that wasn't hard enough already…I need to get away somehow…

I transformed my spear back to a sword and rushed towards the building and they gave chase. Being out in the sky leaves me too vulnerable to their synched attacks; I need some walls between us to gain an advantage. And since they realize this…that means they are going to…

"You're not escaping!" The first one said as she appeared in my path and swung her blades at me, which I blocked by holding my blade in a horizontal position.

"I have you now!" The second one appeared above me and charged down at me.

"Bingo…"

"_Shadow Step!"_

I moved closer to the building so I could get the sun directly behind me, and since she appeared there…a shadow was cast on her partner's body so I was able to enter the world of shadows to escape…but I wonder where I will end up?

I chose an exit nearest to me and found myself in a completely dark room.

"Where are we?"

_The data shows we are in the third basement level_ _of the building._

So we made it inside? That's good to hear.

I raised my sword up and ran my finger along the side. It started to light up with the same green symbols on my Barrier Jacket and illuminated the entire room.

"What the hell?"

There were swords scattered all over the place. Many of them were impaled into the walls, the ceiling and the floor. Others were just randomly lying around.

Is this some kind of weapon room?

_That is not within the data._

I thought not…

Drip…drip…

I could hear water dripping down from above me…did a pipe burst or something?

Suddenly, my hand started to burn with pain. It was as if my hand was being dipped into acid!

"AGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH! What the hell is going on?!"

_Danger! Danger! The other has been compromised! The Host has been overwhelmed! Danger! Danger!_

Wait…what? Did something happen to Kasumi?

Drip…

Some water landed on my face. Damn it that wasn't refreshing at all…wait…this is…blood? I shined the light up and saw a whole in the ceiling. That's where the blood was coming from…

I jumped through the hole and landed on a trail of blood. Someone has been dragged along the floor…there were also a bunch of swords scattered around here as well.

Ba-dump…ba-dump…ba-dump…

My heartbeat began to race as I started to run down the hallway following the blood trail.

No…no…oh god…please no…

I climbed a flight of stairs and came across a wide empty room. In the middle of it, where the blood trail stopped were two people, one of them was holding the other in her arms.

My eyes darted on the one being carried…it was Kasumi…covered in blood…

"No…it can't be…"

"Oh? Does the white princess have a black knight to rescue her?" the person carrying her asked me.

"Who the hell are you! Did you do this to her? If you did…so help me…"

"My, my, such an angry black knight…how about Trodie Onee-sama break you as well?"

"You…FUCKING BITCH!"

"_Blade Impulse!_"

I dashed straight at her but she threw Kasumi at me so I had to slow down before I accidently split her in two. However just before she was about to fall into my arms, something hard slammed into my stomach and sent me flying into a pillar.

"You're too slow, Black Knight-san."

"Shit…I think I broke a few ribs…" I mumbled as I got to my feet clutching my stomach. I spit out some blood and wiped my mouth with my hand.

I needed to remain calm…I won't be able to save her if I lose my mind…

"_Sleipnir Wing!_"

The green wings appeared at my feet and I rushed at her again. I was able to get behind her so she couldn't throw Kasumi at me again.

"Your mine!"

But as I swung my sword, I sliced nothing but air, and felt another crushing pain in my back. I lost my balance and fell flat on my face.

"Aww…did Black Knight-san fall down? Should Onee-sama give you a kiss?"

"Damn…fucking…Bi-"

CRACK!

I felt another heavy impact on my jaw and was sent flying across the room. My jaw was hanging open…crap I think…it's dislocated…

"Watch your language," She taunted as she lifted Kasumi in her arms and started to walk away.

Damn it…is this all I have? Am I so freaking weak? Kasumi needs my help! I can't…I won't be stopped here! I need…I need more power…that bitch…I want to…I want to kill her…

"Really, you went down so much more quietly than this princess. Of course that was before this sword pierced her chest…"

It was if something inside me snapped. My body stood up on its own accord and my Barrier Jacket disappeared. My right hand began to ache and the lights flowed through my body again. My skin began to protrude out and thicken. Each layer began to thicken and harden to look like black scales and my right hand turned into a giant claw. My jaw mended itself and my canines grew out. My wings lost their feathers and turned into two whip-like things covered in the same scales as my body. I touched my left hand into my right palm and pulled out a long green light that began to shape itself into an axe.

_"Armor of the Enraged Dragon, Barrier Jacket, Berserk Form and Black Fang of the Cursed Earth, Shinken, Axe form._

_"Where are they? Where are my enemies?"_

My mind was blank, my throat was dry, and my body was burning. Such a drastic change in the Barrier Jacket completely threw me off. I could feel it…the Devil Ärm sped its control into my body through the framework of this new armor.

The cyborg that calls herself Trodie merely stared at me like I wasn't a concern.

_"My enemy…my enemy…is you!"_

I felt my body move faster than it ever did even when I used Blade Impulse or Shadow Step. I was right in front of her in a split second, my eyes didn't even have time to refocus as I swung down my axe down, causing the ground to upheaval under us.

_"Give her back…give her back to me!"_

My "voice" wasn't my voice at all. It was the Ärm speaking my mind. Trodie merely smiled and said, "If you want her…come and get her."

She was provoking me, I will answer it with all of my new power. She was moving way too fast, even for me. As soon as I catch up to her she was already even further from my grasp. Her laughter edged me on as I continually slammed my axe and myself into walls and pillars trying to cut her down.

"What's this?" she asked as she looked down at me from a hole in the ceiling. "All this power and you can't catch up to little ol' me?" Her provocations were reaching me and my blood was boiling at every word that came out of that damn mouth of hers. I chased her all the way to the first basement level. When I saw her again she was on top of a broken pillar looking down on me again.

"Well it has been fun, but I need to get back. We have plans for your little friend."

For a moment I thought I saw Kasumi wake up and look towards me. She moved her mouth slightly and I understood what she was trying to say…"Help"

That was all it took for me to snap. I used the other pillars as stepping-stones as I jumped off one after another to get to her. However when I got within inches of them a large blast from above ground blew through the top and sent me falling back down. The pain etched all across my body as the shards of the stone ceiling tore my armor and skin apart.

"Oh…Dieci does good work as expected. See ya, Failed Black Knight-san," she said as she disappeared through the hole in the ceiling.

This pain…what is causing it? Was it the shrapnel in my body or the pain of utterly failing…no…not yet…they're not getting away yet!

I struggled to my feet and looked up at the hole. I raised my new wings up and slammed them onto the ground, propelling me straight up back onto the surface.

I looked around for some sight of them, but I couldn't see anything properly. My tears mixed with my blood were blocking my sight.

"Freeze!"

I looked around and saw multiple soldiers aiming their weapons at me. I felt myself let out a huge roar, "_Don't get in my way!"_

I easily overpowered them with one swing of my weapon. I didn't even have hit them with it, the gust of wind was enough to send them flying.

_"Where is she…where is she?" _I repeated over and over as I walked around the area. "_Kasumi…where is she?_"

I noticed someone laying on the ground a few steps away.

"_Subaru…"_

"Eh?"

She looked at me fearfully.

"Why…how do you know my…?"

She doesn't recognize me?

A small glint of light around my neck caught her eye. I was still wearing the gems that those two gave me. "K-Kuro-kun?"

"_Kasumi…they have Kasumi!"_ I cried as I bent down to pick her up.

"Kasumi? Who is Kasumi?" she asked.

"Subaru!"

An orange light flew across the area and exploded as it hit me in the face. It hit a spot where my scales and been damaged so I felt every bit of that attack.

Damn…it got my eye.

"Tea! Wait!" Subaru called out but her partner didn't hear her as she started charging another shot. "Cross Fire!" Multiple lights flew towards me again but I couldn't react in time and they all exploded on me. Every shot hit a whole in my scale body…what amazing accuracy. The impact rendered my left arm useless.

"Tea!" Subaru called out again.

"Don't worry, I got him!" Tea replied as she said as she charged up again. But this time, I wasn't giving her another free shot. I used my speed to get right in front of her and kicked her away from me.

I started to lose focus. I had lost a lot of blood when I got hit by that beam attack and even more with all this excess movement…my sense of balance was thrown off and I was staggering all over the place. Blood was spilling out of my body like water from cracks of a dam.

"Kuro-kun! Stop please!" she said as she struggled to get to her feet.

I wasn't sure how much longer I could stay standing… "Kuro-kun! Hang in there! Someone help!"

What was I doing? What was I looking for? Who's calling me? These thoughts reached my mind as the Berserk Armor disappeared and I collapsed onto the ground.

* * *

My mind has lost control...what was going on? What happened? My friends are disappearing in front of me...but...I will get them back. Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Lost and Recovery.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Well that was a lot of fun...so much original material in this chapter. Next time we see how everyone deals with their losses...See ya soon.


	14. Chapter 13: Lost and Recovery

Author's Notes:

I feel like i should say something stupid here...oh wait, just did...again...

* * *

**Chapter 13: Lost and Recovery**

I woke up and found myself in a comfortable bed. Last night's events were foggy in my mind. All I remember…was not being able to save Kasumi…damn it…

My left arm was hurting but at least I could still move my fingers, so that means it wasn't paralyzed at least. However it was put into a sling that was hanging from the ceiling.

I tried to move my jaw. There was a small cracking sound every time I move my lower jaw to the left, but other than that there was no pain at least. My body felt heavy with all the bandages that was wrapped around me…Teana sure did a number on me…looks like my right leg is in a cast as well.

I slowly sat up from the bed ignoring the small pain in my chest. That's right…I forgot I broke some ribs when that cyborg hit me…how on earth was she so fast? She was there…and then she wasn't…the cyborgs don't use magic so it was impossible to trace them in the conventional sense.

I looked around the room more carefully. I was completely alone in this room, not even a fellow patient to keep me company. On the table next to me were my gemstones and my harmonica. There was also a crutch at the side of my bed…I should go for a walk and clear my head.

My depth perception was off…I guess there's lasting effect from that shot that hit my eye…It took me a while to grab the gems, my harmonica and the crutch. After standing up, I heard thumping on the window.

"Oh…there you are…you stupid bird…"

I limped over to the window and carefully pulled it open and Ken flew in and landed on my shoulder.

It cawed sadly at me.

"I know…we'll get them back…" I said to it as I stroked its feathers. I think it was the first time we saw eye to eye like this…too bad it had to be in this situation.

I hobbled to the door and entered the hallway.

"Ah…Kuro…"

"I turned around to see Teana standing there.

"Nice timing…I was about to visit Subaru and the others," She said holding up her bag. "Do you want to come with me?"

"No…I'm not in the mood right now…sorry," I said as I walked past her.

"Please…she could use the company right now…"

"But _I_ need to be alone right now…"

-

What am I doing? Why the hell am I sitting on the roof alone? Am I still a loser who pushes people away and isolates himself? Whatever…I don't care anymore…it's just another promise I couldn't keep…I don't deserve anything from anyone…even Ken left me alone to go with Teana…

"What are you doing you moron?"

Huh?

"Are you just going to spend the rest of your life in this depressing place?"

A dream? No…just another hallucination…

"What's with that dead look in your eyes?"

Just leave me alone…I can't do anything anymore.

"'Can't do anything?' This is coming from the same idiot who jumped five cars on a mountain bike? The same idiot who gets ambushed by jealous guys every day and wins? The same idiot who climbed a cliff just to get me a flower?"

The same idiot who broke his promise to you and your brother…

"Losers make promises! Winners keep commitments! I'm not dead yet you moron!"

I must really be a sad person if the only thing I have t cheer me up is a hallucination of you…Kasumi.

"Haha you love me too and you know it."

Maybe…

"But there's someone else you care for don't you?"

Yeah…

"She's going through a lot as well you know…with you calling out a name she hasn't heard before."

Crap…

I stood up quickly and started to walk down the stairs. I wonder when I'll be able to stand on my own two feet again. I've relied on Kasumi to keep myself in check for too long…

But first, I need to make a call…

"Admiral…it's me…I have a request…"

-

I found the room that Subaru was resting in and knocked softly.

"Come in."

The door opened and I walked in.

"Oh…everyone's here as well?" I asked as I saw Caro, Erio and Teana were in there.

"Kuro-kun…"

Caro stood up and brought a chair over for me.

"Thank you…everyone, I have something to say to you all."

"What is it?" Teana asked.

"It's about everything…me as well as the person called 'Kasumi.' Or rather…you know her as Hashimoto Hikari."

Everyone straightened up and listened to my story.

I told them how we just on a normal non-magic related vacation, when our devices came out of nowhere and found us. I told them how Admiral Harlaown tracked us, told us about magic and the Lost Logia and asked us to temporarily join the TSAB so they could monitor us…everything. The only thing I left out was my real name, as the Admiral said that it was still a security concern.

"…and although I'd rather let you call me by my real name, I still am not allowed to reveal it…so please continue to call me Kuro."

"So that's why you two had such strange devices…they were actually Lost Logia," Teana noted.

"So the two of you are actually just civilian collaborators," Caro said.

"I guess that's pretty close to it…"

"What about the things about your past?" Teana asked.

"Everything I said was true, except that my parents aren't missing. They're still taking care of my sister."

"So, what is going to happen to you now?" Erio asked.

Subaru, who had been looking out the window the entire time, finally looked up at me.

I sighed before answering

"I'm supposed to be transferred to a secured location as soon as I'm release from the hospital."

"WHAT?" Teana asked standing up. "You're just going to get up and go like that? What about Hikari…no I mean Kasumi?"

"I'm an irregular. I have no choice but to follow orders given to be or be removed completely. I'm not abandoning Kasumi, I'm going to save her with everything I got."

"Kuro-kun…" Subaru looked at me sadly before looking away again.

Teana seemed to have noticed this too.

"Hey Caro, Erio. Let's leave these two alone."

"Okay."

As the left I moved to a chair closer to Subaru's bed.

"I'm sorry I've been lying to you the entire time…"

"No…I'm not too concerned about that…" she said looking at me. "I'm just…"

She stopped in the middle of her sentence and looked at my bandages.

"Tea's gotten a lot better hasn't she?"

"Don't remind me, I wonder how long it would take before I can get these off."

"Don't be mad at her, she didn't mean it…"

"Oh she meant it…in that she wanted to attack that 'creature' that was 'attacking' you," I said emphasizing those two words. "Although I'd probably do that too."

"Heh, heh, thanks…but can you not tell her it was you?" She asked.

"Yeah, I don't want her to have another 'friendly-fire episode.'"

"What happened to you anyway?"

"Another new Barrier Jacket showed up…Berserk Form."

"Well…it certainly fits the part," she said as she said smiling slightly. She then looked at her arm and then at me. "Hey Kuro-kun, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm? What is it?" I asked.

"What would you do…if I wasn't human?"

"I wouldn't have a problem with that." Especially since I've already considered and accepted the fact that you all were aliens since Day 1…

"Even if I was a Combat Cyborg?"

So that's what this is about?

"I've known about that before I entered the room," I said resting against my chair.

"Huh? How did…"

"When I contacted the Admiral, he was listening to an explanation from Major Nakajima about the Combat Cyborgs, so he invited me to listen in."

"That's when…?"

"I also had some suspicion of it when I learned that Ginga-san was captured as well. But really, I don't care about that. You really are insecure about our relationship aren't you?" I asked.

"But…that's because…you were calling out her name so loudly…Kasumi-san's…"

"Sigh…I can see how that may make you nervous…she was my friend for eighteen years and she was captured right in front of me…how else could I have reacted?"

"I…I guess so…sorry…"

She reached out and hugged me tightly.

"OW!" I screamed as I tried to pull her arms apart. "OW! Broken Ribs! Broken Ribs!"

"S-sorry!"

"Geez…these bandages aren't for show you know!"

I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. I pulled out my harmonica and started to play it again. However…

"It's impossible to do it properly with one hand…" I mumbled as I placed it on Subaru's nightstand. "It's for a freaking piano anyway."

"Then why do you play it on that?" Subaru asked picking it up and examining it.

"For one, I can't carry a piano everywhere I go…well I can but it's not socially acceptable…and two…it's important to me."

"I see. Wow…this looks really well made. Where did you get it?"

"From Kasumi's brother, Kobayashi Kyo."

"Huh? Then I shouldn't be carelessly handling this!" She quickly put it back on the nightstand.

"Haha, I don't mind. I've dropped it a million times when I was a kid. I'm surprised it could still be played after all this time."

I looked at the harmonica and then at Subaru…

"Um…your face is screaming 'I want to know,' at me…" I told her.

"Eh? What are you talking about?" She asked as she looked away from me.

"Combat Cyborg, my ass; you act more like a ordinary high school girl hungry for gossip material than a computer."

"Umm…should I take it as a compliment?" She asked as she laughed nervously.

"Sigh…guess it can't be helped…she isn't around anyway…but if you tell anyone else…I'll never forgive you, never speak to you again, and I'll break up with you!"

"Yikes! I understand…"

I leaned back on my chair and took a deep breath before beginning my story.

"Ryo was nine years older than Kasumi and I but he still played with us whenever we wanted. He wasn't good at sports, he wasn't very good at schoolwork, and he was pretty average looking guy, unlike me." I joked and Subaru gave a small cough.

"However, he had one redeeming quality to him, his musical skill. But for us, that was enough for us to believe he was the coolest person ever. He liked to compose songs and play them at community centers, parks, parties; anywhere so long as he could play them for people to enjoy. He doesn't accept payment for the events but he wouldn't deny any donations."

"But when we were six, a fire broke out at her house while her parents weren't home and the two of them were trapped inside. The two of them managed to get to a window but some rubble prevented rescue workers from getting to them. So he threw himself against it until he managed to dislodge it enough for the rescue workers to knock it down. But after he handed Kasumi over to them, before he could get out himself, the floor caved in from underneath him. It took another half hour before they could rescue him…"

I looked at the harmonica on the nightstand and flipped it over. The letters K and K were engraved on the back.

"While his parents were talking to the doctors, Kasumi and I were sitting beside his bed. While she got off with only minor burns, he had several lacerations and third-degree burns…he knew he wasn't going to make it. Kasumi had cried herself to sleep so he was only able to talk to me."

"He started joking about how sad he was that all of the instruments he had saved up and made were all destroyed for a bit and that all his songs were gone as well. When he saw I wasn't laughing he became serious."

"He said the only thing he managed to save was his harmonica that he had been playing before the fire started as well as the song he was writing, 'The Song of the World.' He said that he was wondering if the feelings would remain if it was played by a completely different instrument…it was for the piano after all."

"I took the harmonica from his hand and played a few of the notes to see how they sounded. I thought about the song and how it sounded and tried my best to play it based off of memory. Of course, the memory of a six year old was terrible so I pretty much butchered the song."

"Despite his condition he managed to laugh at it. He then asked me two things. He wanted me to find a way to play the song perfectly on the harmonica…and to watch out for his sister…and just like that, as if he was just going to sleep…he closed his eyes and went silent."

I fell silent and looked down on the ground. Sorry, Kasumi. I told her…

"You're lucky you know? That this planet has such advance technology to rescue people from fires and stuff…"

No…I need to stop there…anymore and it'll sound like I'm accusing her off something stupid.

"GAH! DAMN IT…OW!" I stood up quickly and hit my head on something hard. I clutched my head in pain and looked around, Subaru was clutching her jaw as well.

"Geez! Warn someone before you stand up!" She said with tears in her eyes.

"Ow…right…" I replied poking the bump on my head. I then looked at the clock on the wall, it was already past nine.

"Anyway I have to go for a check-up soon," I said as I stood up. "I'll come visit again."

"Hey…are you really going to be transferred out?"

"It's not my choice. Those in charge of the Devil Ärms are more focused in keeping the one I have safe rather than retrieving the one stolen. I'm nothing more than a precious item to them. Of course, I'd rather stay here with everyone."

"But you have until you're discharged right?"

"Yeah…"

"Then…I'll see you to-mmph?!"

I kissed her before she could finish her sentence. Her shocked face was so cute…

"W-what are you doing?" She asked pulling her face away.

"Saying, 'Goodbye'" I replied shrugging. "The way couples do it."

"J-just saying it is fine!"

"Hahaha, you're still so naïve."

"Don't say that!"

"Oh, so that's what you were trying to do before I stood up?"

"B-baka!"

"Well then, goodbye."

"Ah, see you later…"

Before the door closed behind me I turned around one last time. "Oh, and remember: No matter what I do or what I say, I love you the most."

As she turned an amazing shade of red, the door closed behind me, and I let out a huge sigh.

I did something completely out of character and I ended up joking about it as well…but that can't be helped…

_My lord, the regeneration of cells has been completed._

Thanks, you're a lifesaver aren't you, Shinken?

_Yes, my lord._

I walked out to the lobby where the Admiral was.

"Congratulations, you were just discharged from the hospital," He said.

"Thank you, Sir!" I removed my bandages and saluted him.

"Well then, Ensign Kurosawa Kuro! Starting at 1000 hours next you will be stationed on board the battleship Asura as a combat mage. Until then, you will be residing in the Claudia."

"Understood, sir!"

As I followed him out of the hospital, I turned around to look at the hospital one last time. See ya later…everyone…

-

One week has passed since then. I spent my entire time increasing my skills practicing with the other combat mages and earned myself quite a reputation among them, the Black Angel was what they called me. I overheard them talk using a new ability I called Scry. It allowed me to sync my sight and hearing to Ken, making it an excellent spying ability. I've also gotten used to fighting multiple enemies solo now, so those Cyborgs won't catch me off guard this time. I've also mastered the Berserk Form after a lot of broken bones that caused all the other mages to refuse to spar with me whenever I'm using it so I had to ask the Admiral to practice…but it's a powerhouse that will come in handy later on.

The entire time I've been here, I haven't even contacted anyone from Section 6. Even though it has only been a week since the Land HQ attack, I was working myself pretty quickly…too quickly…that's because of another skill from Shinken's DNA memory, Time-Space Warp used with the Berserk Form. The skill would slow down time, living one hour for each second. However it was unusable in any area larger than the training area and took twenty minutes to prepare. Basically, I can't use it in actual combat. The amount of magic used was substantial and I pushed myself like I was going to die.

I'm not sure how such an impossible skill was made…a single room outside of regular time and space on a moving spaceship…I tried asking Shinken who made such a ridiculous skill, but all he said was…

_A wizard did it…_

I suppose it learned all my Internet memes as well…

Heh, I need to apologize to everyone…that is…if I ever see everyone again. In that one week, I've lived for almost a year. I didn't take a break at all and I got a lot of unnecessary scars. How the hell am I going to explain it to my parents? I got attacked by a bear?

During this time, the ship was being prepped for reuse. Apparently, Chrono's mother was the CO of this ship at one time and after she stepped down, this ship was rendered inactive. Now the TSAB wants every useable ship out there available.

"Kuro, are you awake?" Chrono asked me via telepathy. I finally managed to acquire that basic skill after hours of practice, I feel stupid for knowing all these complex skills and not knowing this one.

"Yeah, but I'm still not used to talking like this," I replied as I got dressed.

"You'll get used to it soon. The crew of the Asura is being loaded today so we'll be rendezvousing with them later today."

"I see…"

"Do you miss them? The people of Section 6?"

"Yeah…it's only been a week but it has been over a year for me."

"You now have full control over the Devil Ärm and the information we collected by monitoring your training has been very useful."

"In the end I'm nothing but a lab rat right?" I asked as I exited my room.

"I'm sorry that it sounds like that."

"That's fine, you're honest about it at least. What's going on with the forces on the ground?"

"The Combat Cyborgs have been decimating the ground troops and those at the Ground HQ are being monotonous in their efforts to stop them. It's not really my place to judge my co-workers' actions but, they're being stubborn to refuse assistance."

"I see, so basically we're being screwed over?"

"More or less."

"Any news on what Section 6 is doing?"

"They're privately investigating Jail Scaglietti under the guise of investigating the Relics, which just happens to include him and the Combat Cyborgs."

"As expected of Commander Yagami…a splendid exploitation of a loophole in the system."

"Yeah. She's been working hard. They're also trying to find a way to save the kidnapped Master Sergeant Nakajima, Ensign Hashimoto, as well as that girl, Vivio."

"Any indication of their hideout?"

"Fortunately, yes. Thanks to the work of Enforcer Fate and Major Nakajima's investigation as well as Inspector Acous's talents we have found them."

Jail Scaglietti…and that Combat Cyborg, Trodie…the only people who I can never forgive. This past year of my time has been for this moment.

I arrived at the bridge where Chrono was.

"This ship's inside is way too big," I said as I stood next to him.

"Hahaha, there's no use complaining," he replied.

Bwean… Bwean… Bwean… Bwean

The alarm suddenly rang throughout the ship.

"What is it?" Chrono asked.

"Combat Cyborgs have been spotted! Along with the unknown Knight, they are heading towards the Ground HQ again!" One of the helmsmen explained. "We are receiving the footage from the Asura!"

The monitor showed a familiar face was speeding down the highway bridge.

"That's…Ginga…san! You're saying this is being sent from the Asura?" I asked.

"Y-yes sir!"

"Where is its current location right now?" Chrono asked.

"It's currently at…huh?"

A massive magic energy reading appeared over the monitors as well as Jail Scaglietti's face.

"To my sponsors and to the TSA who made this world and the Saint Church which lauds a hypocritical piece, can you see it?" he asked. "This is the absolute power that you longed for even as you avoided it!"

The monitors then showed a massive ship breaking out of the ground.

"That which is said in olden times to have created a world and then destroyed it…the demonic wisdom of the Ancient Belka."

"The Saint's Cradle." Chrono mumbled.

"Can you see it?" Scaglietti asked again. "With the master it's longed for, this product of ancient wisdom and technology will now bring forth its power…"

The monitor then showed a room with multiple cables connected to a chair…and the person sitting in the chair was…

"Mama…Onii-chan…it hurts! I'm scared! Mama! Onii-chan!"

"Vivio!" I shouted at the screen. "You…bastard…I'm going to rip your base to shreds and when I get to you…I'm going to rip you to shreds…"

I then turned to Chrono.

"Admiral…please send me down to the area believed to be his hideout…I know it is more advantages for me to be with the forces that are about to attack the Cradle…but…I."

He thought for a moment before looking back at me.

"Understood, you have my permission. It'll take an hour before we can get close enough for the teleport to work. So prepare yourself during that time. Once you get there, meet up with Inspector Acous and follow his instructions."

"Yes! Thank you very much!"

As I headed towards the teleporter, I felt a burning sensation in my fist and heart. Kasumi, you're there aren't you? I will fulfill my promise with you and Kyo, I'll stake my life on it!

* * *

As I head off into the unknown for my precious friend, I see nothing but the path ahead of me. I will find you... Next time on Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Lord.

* * *

Author's Notes:

And so we end today with yet another cliffhanger. It's so close...the ending of this story. I thank you all for dealing with this Newbie all this time...even if there are only 25 of you XD. Look forward to Wednesday.


	15. Chapter 14: Lord

Author's Notes:

The end is near...the end is near...the end is near...the end is near...the end is near...the end is near...  
Prepare for an action packed chapter...and more questions to boot!

* * *

Chapter 14: Lord

The hour passed by quickly. I stepped onto the transporter and prepared myself for the warp.

"Kuro, Enforcer Fate has already entered Scaglietti's hideout along with Inspector Acous and Sister Schach," Chrono explained. "You are to meet up with them and locate Scaglietti."

"Admiral, Hashimoto is in there as well," I said as I fixed my sleeves a bit.

"Huh? How can you tell?"

"It is said a twin can tell when its other half is in danger or hurt. These two feel much of their sisters' pain," I said as I held up Kuro and the Ärm.

"I see, then your primary objective is to rescue her, leave Scaglietti to the others, but assist them once you've recovered Ensign Hashimoto."

"Roger. I pray your fleet will be able to destroy the Cradle after Nanoha-san and the others manage to rescue Vivio."

"Yes…Godspeed to you."

"You too, Admiral."

I gave him a salute as I disappeared and found myself in the middle of a forest next to an opening of in a mountain. I saw a bunch of destroyed gadgets near the entrance of the cave and I could also hear multiple explosions coming from the inside as well.

No doubt about it…this was the place.

"Shinken! Lock and Load!"

"Barrier Jacket Berserk Form!"

My black scale armor appeared as well as my giant axe.

"_Blade Impulse!_"

I quickly ran into the cave towards the explosions where Sister Schach and Captain Fate were already engaged with the enemies.

"First Wave!

"_Flash Cleaver!_"

I sped up to get in the middle of the group of Gadgets and swung my axe around in a circle, completely obliterating the Gadgets.

The two of them saw me and took a defensive stance against me.

"_Barrier Jacket Standard Form._"

My Berserk armor disappeared as well as my axe and was replaced by my samurai-like armor and my spear.

"Fate-san, it's been a while," I said saluting her.

"Kuro-kun? Where have you been?" She asked me.

"I have been on board the Claudia with your brother Admiral Harlaown, ma'am!"

"With Onii-chan?"

"That's right… Blade Tempest!"

My shockwave destroyed two more Gadgets that popped out from the walls.

"Thank you, Kuro-kun. Now let's hurry to Scaglietti."

"Roger!" Sister Schach and I said as the three of us headed down the tunnel.

We eventually found a corridor that contained a number of people in stasis pods.

"These are bases for human experiments?" Sister Schach asked as we looked around.

"I think so," Fate-san said. "Playing with people's lives and treating them as ingredients for experiments…"

"He falls right into the mad scientist category doesn't he?" I asked as I scanned them all. None of them were Kasumi…

"We need to stop him as soon as possible," Sister Schach said.

The whole area began to shake and the ceiling began to collapse down on us. Fate–san and I managed to jump out of the way but something had grabbed onto Sister Schach's leg and she tripped.

"Sister!"

"Fate-san!"

Two blades came flying towards us and I managed to block them both. Hang on…these are…

The ceiling gave away and a gadget came crashing down on where the Sister was.

"Don't worry, I'm okay," Sister Schach said. "I've spotted another Combat Cyborg. As soon as I secure her, I'll meet up with you."

"Understood," Fate-san said as we turned towards the other two.

"Yo, it's been a while," I said as they came out to the open. "I've got a debt I need to repay."

But before I could do anything, I felt a familiar impact on my side.

"GAH!"

I was sent flying through the wall. It was her again…

"Kuro-kun!" Fate-san called out.

"I'm okay! Just another enemy…" I replied. "Worry about the ones in front of you, I can handle this."

I stood up and rubbed my side.

"You got a lot of guts to try that again…Trodie was it?" I asked.

"Oh my, you remember my name?" She asked, faking a giggle. "How are you, Black Knight-san."

"Pissed off but other than that, extremely delighted to see you again."

"_Berserk Form!_"

"Come, let me show you what I've learned from my self-training."

"Interesting, can you beat my Inherent Skill, Lightning Time."

Again she disappeared from my sight.

Heh…I figured out how to beat your trick.

Explosions appeared around me and sent her flying away from my back.

"What did you do?" She asked as she brushed the smoke from her face.

"Ow, hot, hot! That stings," I mumbled as I brushed off the soot. "I figured since you could move faster than I can track, all I needed to do was deploy proximity traps around me, like so."

I held up my right hand and a black sphere formed in my hand.

"_Berserk Bomb!_"

It fell and disappeared in the ground.

"The killer part of this, is that _I_ don't even know where they go after they land on the ground. So I could very well explode on them myself."

That's right, if you were somehow able to read my mind to dodge my attacks then this will get you, teleportation is also dangerous because you can't move without caution. This is basically a bombed caged match now.

"You really thought this out didn't you, Black Knight-san?" she asked a she took out two steel fans. "Inherent Equipment, Lightning Impact."

"Fans? How elegant for such an annoying person."

Let's see…I scattered quite a few bombs around so it's reckless to move around without thinking. They also are able to move around while they are under the ground so…damn, at least some of the charges aren't very powerful like the one she stepped on. I it was a fully charged one…I'd be lucky to only lose a leg…

_My lord, Anti-magic Field has been detected, the Berserk Bomb's efficiency will be reduced over time._

I see, then I need to draw her into the bombs while they still pack a punch.

I grabbed my axe in both hands and swept my foot around.

"Second Wave!"

"_Shadow Cleaver!_"

As expected she disappeared as soon as I launched my attack she disappeared.

"You can't hit me with that!"

"I thought off a lot more than just the bombs!"

My attack wasn't meant to fly out from the front, but rather from the back.

"What?" An explosion from behind me tells me that the attack hit her as well as some bombs. But it wasn't enough…

"Such a bad boy!" She appeared in front of me and I felt an explosive impact on my stomach.

Vita was right…I really do need to work on my recovery time, I thought as I was sent flying into the wall.

"_My lord!_"

"What?"

A small light flashed underneath me. Oh shit…

"DOWAAH!"

A lot of my bombs exploded splitting the ground underneath us, thereby exploding the rest of the ones in the room.

Damn…that was an oversight…I didn't consider the durability of the floor…not to mention that it could also cause a cave in if I'm not careful. But damn that hurts! I think my legs were fried, I suppose the AM Field wasn't that bad at all.

"Children shouldn't break things so carelessly, Black Knight-kun."

As the smoke cleared I saw Trodie standing up in the middle of the room, her arm was damaged.

"I'm not a kid, I'm 18 years old damn it!"

I struggled to stand up, my left leg was hurting like crazy…I won't be able to use my Blade Impulse like this.

"_Guardian Form!_"

If I can't move to attack, then I'll focus on my defense…wait…where the hell…am I?

The smoke finally cleared away and I got a better look at my surroundings. The room was filled with multiple computers and monitors with a single container in the very center of the wall.

But what disturbs me was that the computers here were nothing like the ones at any of the TSAB facilities I've been in and it was not similar to the design of the rest of Scaglietti's base. Even though I'd rather stab myself in the leg with a rusted fork then openly admit it, the guy is a genius and he might have one or two things I've not seen before but it's impossible to have this much advance technology no matter how hard you work.

"Like it? It was a gift to the doctor from a anonymous sponsor," Trodie said flinging her hair out of her face. I caught a symbol around her neck. "XIV" what does that mean?

Whoa!

I quickly swept my right foot over to my left and just narrowly dodged a small beam that zipped across my face and hit one of the computers, and a dent the size of a basketball appeared there. Holy crap! _THAT'S_ what's been hitting me all this time? How the hell am I still standing?

"Hold still!"

Like hell, you crazy lady!

I had to do dodge most of them by the skin of my teeth. Luckily they were so small or else I'd be broken in an instant. She was shooting these damn things from her fan…does she ever run out of ammo?

I dodged another shot by jumping quickly to the left but I landed on my left leg, which gave out underneath me.

Oh crap!

A small sneer appeared on her face…this is going to hut.

A crushing force slammed itself onto my body. It was like getting hit by a train five times on each limb. My barrier had nearly been completely voided by the AM Field so I couldn't defend it at all. If it wasn't for the natural defense of the Guardian Form…I'd be dead.

I was sent flying into the container, which cracked upon my impact. Damn it…my back is killing me…the armor was falling apart on me…I won't last much longer like this…huh?

I looked inside the container…inside was…Kasumi?

"Do you like it?" Trodie asked. "Like the, Belkan Child and the Type-Zero, we also had a purpose for the White Princess."

"They have names you know…" I muttered as she continued to destroy parts of my armor. I couldn't move or else the shots might kill her.

"…Vivio…a little girl who can't even stand up after falling down on the grass and gets worried whenever her mama goes away for a night…Ginga Nakajima…a kind and mature girl who loves to tease her younger sister…and…Kobayashi Kasumi…a strong, energetic, and easily lonesome girl who is my very important friend."

She shot off my headpiece and as it fell to the ground blood trickled down my forehead, splitting into two around my nose.

"I will…we will…save all of them!"

CRASH!

One last shot hit my forehead and it crashed through the glass of the container and the fluid inside poured out.

As I struggled to remain conscious, my eyes darted towards her white glove.

"Hey…you white devil…your host is no longer able to protect herself nor you…she's no longer useful right…?" I asked it as my blood started to soak my hair. "Why not come over…and join the black devil? There's plenty of room…you'll be able to fight more…and you'll have a…stronger host…"

I slowly felt my neck being pierced by the shards.

"What do you say? Hurry up…it's a limited time offer…"

A flash of white light from the glove gave me its answer, and I smiled.

"Heh…smart boy…"

Once again, my armor began to change. Red and green lines were etched all across my body as a blood red cloth began to wrap itself around me. For the most part there were no designs except where the robe ended. Those parts were a dark shade of gray covered with simple green lines running across in a parallel pattern. Huge armor plates running from my shoulders down to my elbows and up to my ears appeared. There was also hexagonal chest guard strapped over my heart. Finally, a long tattered black cape, which was from my neck to my feet in length, wrapped around my neck and covered my mouth as a symbol of a sword, with wings where the guards should be, appeared on my chest guard.

"On my left hand is the devil's ultimate shield, Rho Aias!"

I extended my left arm out and the glove flashed red along its design.

"On my right hand is the devil's true sword, Shinken!"

I extended my Right arm and the glove flashed green along its design.

"_Armor of the Devil Ärms' Master, Barrier Armor, Lord Form!"_ both of them said as one black and one white wing formed out of my back.

As the light disappeared I was standing up right in the terminal room where Trodie was looking at me with a bewildered and scared expression.

"Hahaha…so you have a new toy?" She said making an unconvincing laugh. "I'll chip it away like the last one!"

She aimed her fan at me and fired multiple shots from the tips of the fan at me again.

"_My Lord…_" Rho Aias said as it flashed a deep red.

"Absolute…Territory," I muttered as multiple white barriers appeared and rebounded the shots back at her. There was a loud crunching noise as she was sent flying into some of the monitors…well most of her anyway.

When the smoke cleared she looked down at herself. Her arm was torn right off.

"How is it? For your arm to be removed by the skill you take so much pride in?" I asked as I took a step forward/

"M-monster…a monster!" she screamed as she turned around to run.

"My _Lord_…" Shinken said as it flashed a deep green.

I took another step and appeared in front of her instantly. I grabbed her across the mouth to keep her from uttering another word with that mouth of hers.

"Sword of the Devil Ärms, True version." The blade of sword that I had been using with the normal Barrier Jacket morphed into a larger and wider version of itself. There were illegible green runes across the now white blade with a menacing visible black aura surrounding the blade.

I could hear her muffled screaming as she struggled with her limp hand to break free from my grasp.

"Don't worry, it'll only hurt for a second…physically anyway…" I said as I raised the sword above my head. "Demonic…Shadow."

I brought the flat side of the blade down and slammed it against her head. She fell silent and I dropped her onto the ground.

"Game…Set."

I didn't kill her…just knocked her out.

Despite wanting to kill her for what she'd done to Kasumi and me, I was scared what would happen to me afterwards…Combat Cyborgs are people too…if I don't treat that mad doctor's cyborgs like one, then I have no right to treat Ginga and Subaru like people either.

I then dispelled my sword and turned towards one of the computers. How the hell do you work this thing?

I pushed one of the buttons randomly and a small light flashed in my eyes…

"GAH! It burns! My eyes are freaking burning!"

"_Retina scan, voice scan, password input, all confirmed, welcome my lord…_" the computer said as it turned on.

"Wait…what?"

An image appeared on all the monitors as the ones that weren't destroyed during the fight turned on and formed a larger screen. There was someone standing in the center of an empty white room. He was wrapped head to toe in an orange cloak with an opening in front of the eyes. He was like a ghost, his legs weren't visible and neither were his arms. Only his two red eyes can be seen.

"Welcome…Kimura-kun…"

"How the…who…what…?"

"If you are watching this, then this means Combat Cyborg Fourteen, Trodie has succeeded in luring you to the terminal. I wonder if you killed her or not, but that is unimportant right now…"

It was a recording…this guy…I feel like I know him…

"Since you are here, that means Scaglietti's performance has begun. Your friends are fighting for their lives and are being terribly beaten right now while you are sitting around and watching this video."

"You…piss ant little…!"

"But before you do something stupid like punch the terminal…"

I stopped my fist two centimeters from the keyboard…

"I have some information that you will find useful. Place your hand on the stand."

As he said this a small slider opened up like a CD-drive near my leg. I looked at my hand for a bit before placing it on there.

A large electrical shock pulsed through my arm and a sharp pain rose in my head. I tore my arm away and clutched my head in pain.

"I apologize for the 280 volts that was just fired into your body's circuitry…"

You bastard!

"…but your brain has been imprinted with the schematics of the Combat Cyborgs as well as the fully detailed locations of Teana Lanstar, Subaru Nakajima, and Takamachi Nanoha."

I blinked for a bit and tried to think. For some reason I could see the interior off a large ship and Nanoha-san was standing with Vivio in her arms. Next I saw Teana fighting off three Combat Cyborgs by herself while enclosed in an old office building. Finally I saw Subaru going head to head with Ginga in the sky on their Wing Roads. How the hell is this happening? Who is this person?

"Now if you would please put your other hand on this next platform…I promise you won't feel pain this time."

I glared at the video and then at the drive that just popped open. I picked up a piece of rubble and was about to put it on the drive to test it when he spoke again.

"Oh, and putting anything other than a Devil Ärms on the platform will destroy it, so please refrain form doing so."

I threw the rock away and slammed my hands on the keyboard.

"Where are you, you bastard? Come on out so I can beat you to a pulp!"

"Please do not waste anymore time, your friends will die if you hesitate."

This guy really is annoying…

I placed my left hand on the drive and it beeped for a moment before closing again.

"_Data transmission has been received._" Rho Aias said.

"That information contains everything about Scaglietti…his plans, his sponsors, everything. Use it as you see fit. Now, the container containing Kobayashi Kasumi will open. Your mission is complete…as is this computer's. The AMF will now disappear as well as any trace of this room."

All the screens turned to static before shutting off one by one as Kasumi's container opened up.

"Kasumi!" I called out as I pulled her out of the pod and brushed the broken glass off…of her…naked…body…

As I knelt there, completely flustered and dumbfounded, she began to wake up.

"W-who's there?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes. As she opened them she looked straight at my face. Tears began to form in her eyes as she suddenly hugged me. Oh god…my heart is going to explode!

"I knew it…I knew you'd come and save me…" she said trying to hold back her tears. "What's wrong? Why aren't you saying anything?"

She looked at me as I was determinedly staring at the ceiling. I ripped off my cape and handed it to her.

"H-here…" I mumbled.

She looked at it and then down at herself.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAH!"

SMACK!

Sigh…I knew it…saw it coming…but it still hurts. I rubbed my left cheek as a tear slid out of my eye.

"Geez, just because you saved me doesn't mean you can do whatever you want!" Kasumi was saying as she wrapped the cape around her body. "I mean, don't you already have a girlfriend?"

"It wasn't like that…you were naked when you came out of the container, and I had to catch you before you fell onto the broken glass," I moaned.

She looked at my hand and then at her own.

"H-how did…" She asked as she stared at Rho Aias.

"I convinced it to leave your body and come to mine…it was a life or death situation." I pointed to the unconscious Trodie in the corner.

"Ah! That psychotic woman!" She screamed pointing at her as well. "She's not dead right?"

"Nah, she's fine."

"She's foaming at the mouth…"

"…Eww…"

"Kuro-kun? Kuro-kun! Can you hear me?" a voice asked suddenly.

"Fate-san?" I asked.

"Oh god, you're okay…"

"Yes, ma'am! I've recovered Lightning 5 as well as…"

"Hey what's going on?" Kasumi suddenly shouted.

I turned to where she was looking at. Trodie's body was becoming transparent. In a few seconds she had vanished completely, along with her sliced off arm.

"Kuro-kun? What happened?"

"N-nothing," I said quickly. "Hikari is just a little excited…as I was saying, I have also secured Scaglietti's plans. With this, we can find out how he got all this merchandise. The AM Field Generator has also been neutralized"

"I see, good work. I will now attempt to secure ."

Wow…as expected of an Ace of the TSAB…

"Fate-san, my orders were to retrieve Lightning 5 and move her to a safe location immediately. I apologize but are you able to continue without me?"

"Yes…that shouldn't be a problem."

"Sorry."

I then turned back to Kasumi and stuck out my hand. "Come, let's go back to where everyone will be." I said to her.

She smiled as she grabbed my hand. "Yeah…"

-

"I see…so Section 6 HQ was destroyed…and everyone was…"

As I was heading back to the city, I explained to her everything that had happened.

"I thought you looked taller…time space warping, huh?" She asked as she smacked me on the back of my head.

"Hey! Don't make me drop you!" I said as we entered the city limits. "Okay this should be close enough…"

As I freed up my left hand I held it out like I was holding a gun.

"_Snipe Shooter_…" Rho Aias said as my vision zoomed in on my target.

"Radar field with Multi Arrow…Fire!"

I launched the same skill that she had used during the Ground HQ incident and they landed near the hospital.

"Hold on tight…" I said as she tightened her grip around me.

"_Shadow Drive_…" Shinken said as a black portal opened up in front of us and I entered it. As we returned through the light, we ended up at the hospital.

"The hospital?" Kasumi asked as I put her back down.

"This is the safest place I could think of, not to mention you need a proper checkup…"

"You're going to help them, huh?" She asked me.

"Yeah…"

"Man, it's a little regretful…even though I no longer have Rho Aias, I still wanted to fight with everyone…"

"_I can reattach to you if you want,_" Rho Aias said.

"And now it passed…go get 'em!" Kasumi said giving me a thumbs-up.

"Yeah!"

I then heard the sound of a helicopter flying nearby. As I looked up I saw a familiar face in the back.

"Vice! You were alive after all!" I called out.

"You can't kill me off that easily!" He replied as I flew up to him.

"Huh? Who's the pilot?" I asked as I looked into the cockpit. It was on autopilot. "Then what are you doing?"

"Take a look," he replied as he showed me something under the seat.

"Oh…nice." I then turned back to the chopper's terminal. "Head to these coordinates I'm sending to you right now."

My devices flashed as the chopper's terminals beeped and the chopper headed towards the coordinates.

Hang on just a little longer, Teana, Subaru, Nanoha-san…we're coming to get you.

* * *

A time of Darkness is never forever. The sun will eventually rise and bring forth the light upon the world. The sun has risen upon me, and now I must rescue those close to me. Next time...on the final chapter of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS: Game, Set...and Match.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Yes , yes...I have decided to bring this story to a close. But I have no clue when I will be able to update!! The largest Anime Con is coming tomorrow and there's no way I'm missing any second of the four day long action. Nyehehehehehhe...

Well heres something to think about, there seems to be a lot of new questions even though I'm telling you that this is almost over. Eh, its just bad storytelling, don't think too much about it. You know, you should try to read your fan fics with some Anime OSTs that match the air of the situation. It kinda revamps the atmosphere a little.


	16. Chapter 15: Game, Set, and Match

Author's Notes:

...

* * *

**Final Chapter: Game Set and Match**

As the chopper flew through the city I explained to Vice the plan I had.

"You really think that can be pulled off?" He asked me.

"Hell no, but it's the only thing I can think off," I replied.

"So that's why you wanted to pick up these two bikes?" He indicated two blue and red motorcycles that were latched inside.

"No I wanted to use my car…but it was destroyed along with the base…I don't have a license to ride a bike on my planet so I wouldn't be able to bring it home…ah…so sad…" I faked a tear before getting back to the conversation. "But yeah, since there is a huge AM Field in the cradle, that's all I can think off to travel fast enough inside."

"Incoming Gadgets!" Vice said as he pointed out of the chopper.

"Well my friend, you're the pro sniper and I'm the higher rank amateur, let's see who can score more kills?" I asked as I drew out Rho Aias's bow. "Loser buys dinner?"

"Heh, you're on!" He said as the two of us got a foothold and started to aim. "I hope you don't mind paying for crab!"

"And I hope you don't mind paying for that sushi bar across from the mall!"

The two of us started to shoot them down with ease. I wasn't doing so well since I'm more used to melee attacks. I even hanged on the outside of the chopper and started shooting at gadgets off in the distance.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Vice said as he dragged me back in.

"No it isn't!"

"Our fun's over, looks like we're at the first destination!"

Whew…I think I was losing…

"Okay, get me above the barrier! If I'm right, then Dr. Shamal should be in position to take down the one who's controlling this. I'm going to give her a little hand in finding him. After I jump off, provide Teana cover on the third floor from the top!"

"Wait, how do you know all…hey!" Vice said as I dived out of the chopper.

"Berserk Form!"

My armor and my axe returned as I fell towards the barrier.

"_Final Wave_! _Berserk…Cleaver!_" The blade of my axe started to separate, like how my spear and sword did when I wanted to switch between them, and formed into a larger version of itself. As it did copies of the blade appeared by my side and they followed the movements of the original.

"_First Breaker!_"

My axe collided with the barrier and it started to crack under the impact.

"_Second Breaker!_"

The copy on my right slammed down onto the barrier as well.

"_FINAL BREAKER!!"_

As the last one hit it the barrier completely shattered and I landed softly on the rooftop. The rest of the barrier then started to disappear. I guess Dr. Shamal got him. But…how did that guy know this stuff was going to happen…and why did he implant these memories?

"_Lord Form!_" My berserk armor was replaced with my lord armor as I cut a hole in the ceiling and dropped down.

I was fairly surprised to see Teana had already taken out two of them. I guess I should give the field leader a little more credit…

I lowered myself and listened in on their conversation.

"I don't know what you've been through," Teana was saying. "But if you recognize your crimes and seek help, I think you'll be allowed a fresh start."

"No way, that's going to happen!" The cyborg replied. "We are Combat Cyborgs! Weapons for the purpose of fighting!"

Huh? One of the downed cyborgs was moving…

"There's no other way of life for us than to simply fight and win!"

As the cyborg said this, one of the downed ones picked up her sword and attacked Teana.

"Teana!" I shouted as I charged Rho Aias and fired. At the same time a green magic bullet flew under my arm and past Teana's head and nailed the cyborg right in the face, knocking her over…oh it also meant my shot missed…

"Damn it, Vice!!" I shouted through telepathy. "That was mine score!!"

"Heh, heh, looks like its crab tonight," He replied. "I'll thank you for the treat my friend!"

"That doesn't count you could have hit Teana!"

"But a good sniper doesn't miss his mark."

Damn it…my paycheck! Stupid bet…

I then turned back to Teana who had already secured the last cyborg. As I touched down next to them, I heard her speak again.

"Even weapons that only exist for fighting can laugh and live kindly. You may have been born a Combat Cyborg, but I know a girl that's more human than anyone, that's stupidly kind and tries her best. There's even someone who loves that girl more than anyone else, so don't say that you can't have that life as well."

I blushed slightly as I walked towards the two of them.

"_Shadow Bind_."

Ropes came from the shadows and tied up all of the cyborgs. Teana turned around and seemed pretty shocked that I was there. "Um…thanks for the compliment," I said as I lowered the cape from my face and scratched my head.

SLAM!

She punched me right in my stomach. Holy shit…this girl has a lot more strength then she lets on…it's like getting hit by one of those "Lightning Impacts" again…

As I used my sword as a crutch while I held onto my stomach, Teana started to yell at me.

"You dumbass! Where in the world have you been? You simply disappeared after telling us everything! Do you know how worried we all were?"

"So much…yelling…pain…it hurts…"

She then grabbed me by the collar and pulled me up to her face.

"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Um…I'm sorry and please don't kill me?" I asked laughing nervously. She let me go and stepped back.

"At least you're still the same idiot…"

"Um…are you crying?"

SMACK!

Ooh…a backhand slap! That hurt!

"Shut up!" She said wiping her eyes. "When you see Subaru, you better apologize and beg for her forgiveness!"

"Y-yeah…sorry…"

-

After I made sure the cyborgs were secured properly, I flew the two of us out of the building and headed over to the bridge in my memory where Subaru was fighting Ginga. To my surprise, she had already stopped her and was carrying her on her back towards us.

"Let's go down," Teana said as she grabbed onto me and the two of us dropped down.

"You're limping, is your leg okay?" I asked her quickly.

"It'll be fine…ah…" She stumbled a bit and I caught her before she fell.

"You're helpless," I mumbled as I pulled her arm over my shoulder and helped her walk.

"Sorry…and thanks…"

"Tea!" Subaru called out as she sped up.

"The Gadgets are shutting down everywhere, what happened?" Teana asked her.

"I'm not sure…but more importantly…who's this?" Subaru asked.

"What are you talking about? It's…what are you doing?"

Teana hadn't notice that I raised the top of my cape over my face. I must be looking pretty stupid right now.

During this awkward silence the helicopter landed right next to us and Dr. Shamal came running out.

"Subaru, is Ginga okay?" she asked.

"Yes ma'am," Subaru said as she handed Ginga over to Shamal.

"They stopped the ship from going up any further but the battle is still continuing inside," Vice explained.

"We can't contact Nanoha-chan or any of the others who went in," Dr. Shamal added.

"An indoor excavation and rescue mission, that's a ground mage's job, right Kuro?" Vice said as he slapped my on the back causing my carefully raised cape to fall back down.

"K-Kuro…kun?"

"Y-yo…"

There was another moment of silence between us before Vice broke it.

"Okay you lovebirds, you can catch up later, but for now we have a job to do, so move it!"

I nodded and helped Teana inside as Subaru followed.

"We'll talk later, I promise," I said to her telepathically.

It was a quiet ride towards the Saint's Cradle. I was sitting as far away as I could from Teana and Subaru. I wonder if things are going to be okay…

As I looked over at them I saw Subaru was looking at the device that she received from Ginga just before we left. My hands found the gem hanging from my neck and grasped it tightly. Things will be just fine…

-

"Here's the info about the Cradle," I said as we prepared to board with the bikes. "The further inside the ship we go, the stronger the AMF becomes."

"I'll get you three close enough so that Wing Road will be able to reach it," Vice said as he cocked his gun. "Break through the enemy's defenses and rescue the Commanders."

"Yes, Sirs!" The two of them said.

"I'll be going in as well on this one," I said as I patted the blue motorbike.

Vice then looked out the helicopter and shot down two gadgets that were heading towards us.

"I told you before, I'm neither an ace nor an expert," he said taking a few more shots.

"No, no…you're being too modest…" I mumbled as I geared up the motorcycle.

"I got frightened in an incident where a relative got involved and I fired a shot that I couldn't take back. I felt so pathetic that I thought I'd die. But, you know…" He loaded a new clip into his device and charged up a skill shot.

"_Variable Barrel!_"

"I'm at least good enough to create a path for my airheaded friend and rash subordinates!"

"Who the hell are you calling airheaded!" I shouted as he shot a hole into the ship. "But you're good nonetheless…let's go you two!"

"Y-yes sir!"

"Wing…Road!"

The wing road extended from underneath the two of them and extended all the way to the hole in the ship and they charged along with me following close behind them.

As we crashed through the ship, the three of us sped through the corridors with ease.

"Like I thought…there's plenty of room to drive these through," I said as I rode along side them.

"Hah? You didn't know?" Teana asked.

"Nope, it was just a guess."

"Then…what would have happened if there wasn't enough?" Subaru asked.

"We'd be road kill…"

"Then I'm glad your gut feelings were correct…hmm? That's…" Teana said as she looked up ahead. "Sub-Commander Vita, we're glad to see you're okay!"

"Yo! Lieutenant! Nice to see your chipper little body again!" I called out as well.

"We're going to rescue Nanoha-san and Commander Yagami!" Subaru added as we zipped past her and the two mages that were with her.

As we got closer to where I saw Nanoha-san and Vivio, the AMF was strengthening.

"Just like I thought…"

"I can't gather any magic at all," Teana said.

"But if I'm in Combat Cyborg Mode, I can shoot and run," Subaru said.

"I see, then we're counting on you to break through any obstacles in our path!" I said as I lowered my speed to get behind the two of them.

Subaru got off the bike and continued with her Mach Caliber in her Cyborg form. She still looks pretty much the same…only her eyes were now yellow.

Some of the Cradle's defense system started to attack us but Subaru blew them down in one shot.

"Good! From now on it's a clear path to the Commanders! There's no time to lose!"

Subaru nodded and activated Ginga's Device. I blinked in shock as I saw a white Revolver Knuckle appear on her left arm. Geez, it's like the Devil Ärms…

She then turned the white one to a black one and shot a blast into the wall in our path.

"No good!" I called out.

"Subaru! One more shot!" Teana said.

This time the wall shattered and we saw the Commanders in the room that was in my memory.

"Vivio! Nanoha-san! Commander Yagami! Sergeant Rein!"

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

"We're here to save you!"

With that we all hightailed it out of there. Commander Yagami who, despite my protests, was carrying the downed Cyborg IV was riding with Teana, Nanoha-san was riding with me, and Subaru was carrying Vivio as we all managed to get out of the ship with her Wing Road.

"Mission Complete!" Shari said through a monitor when we all managed to get back to Vice's Copter. "We did it! We did it!"

"Hey…could you keep it down?" I asked her softly.

Commander Yagami and Dr. Shamal who had answered the call turned around to look at me.

Everyone, but the three of us, was fast asleep. I was happily enjoying the feeling of Subaru's head on my shoulders.

"Everyone…thanks for your hard work," Commander Yagami said.

"Yeah, thank you," I said as I brought my head towards Subaru's. And so, this incident that would later be referred to as The Jail Scaglietti incident, or the JS Incident for short, ended without any more trouble. Heh…I was feeling a lot more tired than I thought. Maybe…just a little nap…

-

Three days have past since then and everything was proceeding as normally. Scaglietti and Combat Cyborgs I-IV have been placed in separate detention facilities on different planets. Cyborgs V-XII and a few others who recognized their crimes and seemed like they wanted to help with our investigation were quarantined in a facility in Mid-Childa.

Thanks to the data that Sub-Commander Signum and I brought back, the incident wrapped up peacefully. However, what continued to bother me was that Cyborg XIV was not mentioned in either of the information, and neither was the man in the orange cloak. I wanted to mention them to the higher-ups, but for some reason…I couldn't. I am also wondering why I was given the knowledge of creating Combat Cyborgs as well…there are still so many unanswered questions.

Kasumi underwent a lot of tests onboard the Claudia and it was discovered that she no longer had any trace of the Devil Ärm in body. For me however, it seems like they have merged themselves into my brain and heart, making it impossible to remove them without killing me. I suppose that's what happens when they decide to make you their true master…but I wasn't in despair.

When I think about the things that happened because of them, I was pretty happy. I made some new friends, I had an once-in-a-lifetime chance…and I was also able to meet with an awesome girl…they're also letting me go back home, since it seems I'm in control over the Devil Ärms.

Today, was an important day to those at Section 6. I regret not being part of the celebration of their last day. But I waited for the ceremony to end so I can see my friends again.

I also haven't been able to talk to Subaru at all. Too much had been going on for both of us since the incident ended.

"It's depressing…" I mumbled as I threw my drink in a trashcan next to me.

"Kuro-kun, do you have a moment?" Someone asked me.

I looked up to see Nanoha-san and Ginga-san standing there.

"Yes ma'am." I replied standing up and saluting her.

"Good, then follow me."

She led me to where Subaru and the others were.

"Before the farewell party, we'd like to see all the Forward members," Nanoha-san explained.

Everyone looked at me as I shrugged my shoulders.

-

We were lead outside to our old training grounds.

All the girls gasped in awe as pink petals were flying through the sky.

"These flowers, they're…" Erio began.

"Sakura…" I mumbled as a petal fell into my hand.

"Yeah, they're flowers from the world Nanoha, Kuro, Kasumi and I are from," Commander Yagami said.

"They're flowers that represent a farewell, and greetings to a new season," Fate-san added.

"Okay, Forwards line up!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Everyone lined up in front of Vita as I watched them from the sidelines…sigh…it's really sad that I can't stand with them…damn transfer…it's like not being able to graduate with your friends…

"Oi, Kuro! What are you waiting for?" Vita asked. "Get your butt in line!"

"Huh? But I'm not a member of Section 6 anymore, Lieutenant…"

"That's not exactly true," Commander Yagami said. She took out a piece of paper and showed it to me. "Admiral Harlaown gave this to me when I met him this morning. It says you were to be transferred back to Section 6, two days ago."

She was right…my hands were shaking as I was reading this…oh crap…I covered my eyes with my arms as tears started to flow down my face.

"Heh, Kuro is crying?" Kasumi said with an extremely fake sound of shock.

"Shut up! A petal just got in my eye that's all…"

"Just admit it, you missed us didn't you?" Teana asked as everyone gathered around me.

"N-no way…all that ever happens here is me getting smack around by everyone…"

"Subaru, your man isn't honest at all," Ginga-san said as Subaru laughed nervously.

"But it's not fair…I get transferred back just as everything's ending…not fair…"

I was happy…happy to be able to spend this last moment with everyone. We all straightened up and stood in a line as we waited for the Commanders' words…all of us.

"Okay, first of all, you six have done a great job on your missions and training during the time Section 6 was in operation," Nanoha-san said.

"Although I haven't praised you much, you guys have gotten pretty strong." Vita said.

Shock! I wanted to check her temperature, but the danger is strong in my mind.

"You all have had tough training, put in dangerous and difficult missions…but you've all did your best and completed them without fail, all of you have really gotten stronger…you've all become great Strikers!" Nanoha-san said.

Shit…this is way too emotional…I brought my fist in front of my mouth and looked off to the corner…damn it! I'm not going to start crying again so quickly. I took a quick glance at the others. They were all crying openly.

"Don't cry you idiots!" The lieutenant said.

"But…you're crying too," I dared to say as I smiled underneath my hand. We couldn't help it, being praised like this was just too great.

"Well then, since you're finally graduating and the Sakura are in full bloom, let's not be gloomy." Nanoha-san said.

"Yeah," Signum said as she raised her device…wait…what?

"You brought your partners with you, right?" Vita asked as she brought out her Graf Eisen.

Everyone looked at them, confused. Even Fate-san was looking around not understanding what was going on.

"What, you didn't hear?" Signum asked.

"Full power, without holding back…Section 6's last mock battle!"

We were all stunned. at what was going on. We all looked at each other before looking back at the Commanders.

"Yes Ma'am!"

"I didn't hear about us not holding back!" Fate-san said quickly.

"Well, let us go at it anyway," Signum said simply. "This is a memory as well."

"Geez…Vita, Nanoha!"

"Don't be so stiff, since we finally got our limiters taken off," Vita replied.

"There's no worry, they're all strong after all," Nanoha-san said.

Fate-san sighed in lost.

Us Forwards were busy talking about what strategies to use right now.

"Hey Kasumi, how are you going to do this without Rho Aias?" I asked her quickly.

"No problem!" she said showing me her earring. "I got a new one that's just like her. I'll still be able to help out!"

"Hahaha…YES! This is going to be fun!"

"_Lord Form!_"

I was the first one to get into my protective clothing. "I'm all fired up!"

"Oh? It's rare to see you all fired up for this," Vita said as everyone else donned their protective clothing.

"Since I'm no longer your student, I can consider this revenge, Lieutenant!"

All the Commanders and all the forwards stood in a line facing each other, waiting for Commander Yagami and Ginga-san to start the sound off. My body was burning with anticipation

"Well then…Ready…GO!!"

And our final memorable battle begins.

-

It was almost time for Kasumi and I to return back to Earth. But I still had something to do before that.

"Subaru…"

"Kuro-kun…"

She was the only one able to see us off at the spaceport. Kasumi wanted to give us time to talk so she went on ahead.

"I suppose that's the last time I'll ever hear that name," I said as we walked to my boarding gate.

"Probably…" she muttered.

"Although this is extremely late…I'm sorry for disappearing on you and everyone like that! I was running away again…"

"You really scared everyone you know! They thought you were captured as well!" She said, giving me a light punch on my arm.

"I'm sorry!" I said this and bowed over and over until I started to get dizzy.

"That's enough," she said as she straightened my collar. "And I can't believe that you would leave this behind…"

She reached into her pocket and handed me…

"My harmonica?" I grabbed it and held it carefully.

"You left it in my hospital room."

"So that's why I couldn't find it no matter how hard I looked…I thought I'd lost it forever…thank you, Subaru!" I hugged her as hard as I could and she did the same. I didn't want to let go…if I do…I might never see her again…

"All those taking Shuttle 113 to Non-Administrated Planet 97, please board now, we will be taking off shortly," a woman said over the P.A. system.

We slowly separated and looked at each other.

"W-well…I guess…this is goodbye…" She was crying as she said this. "Shoot…I told myself I wasn't going to cry…"

"Yeah…for now anyway…" I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my handkerchief and handed it to her.

As she took it something fell out of it into her hand…another gemstone.

"This is…?" she asked as she looked at me.

"A Turquoise," I said as I hanged it around her neck along side Mach Caliber. "It's the 'forget-me-not' stone. I still have the gem you gave me, and I'll treasure it always." I pulled the gem from underneath my shirt and showed it to her. "My stone to you is to let you know, I'll never forget you no matter what happens…and I…hope you'd do the same…"

She held the small gem in her hands and looked at me.

"I will…I'll never forget you…" she said through her tears.

We embraced each other once more…this time, before we parted on our separate ways…I whispered something into her ear and we shared one last kiss.

As I boarded the shuttle, I turned around to see the world one last time. The fun times…the sad times…they're all important memories for me…I'll remember them for as long as I live.

-

A simple home in the city stands in underneath the shadow of a tall oak tree. There was a tire swing attached to one of the branches. It was early in the morning the family inside has just woken up and the sounds of a happy breakfast can be heard from inside. Loaded with suitcases, someone walks up to the door and rings the bell. He takes a deep breath as he hears wheels rolling to the door from inside the house.

He stiffens up as the doorknob turns slowly and as the door opens his eyes meet a small girl in a wheel chair.

Her eyes widen in shock as she saw him, and tears started to fill her eyes as she started to call out to her parents…

"Okaa-san! Otou-san! Come quick!"

A tall gruff looking man and a shorter kind looking woman came running out of the kitchen, worried that something had happened. When they saw the person standing at their door, they stopped and gasped.

The girl turned back to him and uttered a single heartfelt word…

"Onii-chan?"

"Yeah… Sakura…Oyaji…Kaa-san…I'm home," I said as I knelt down and hugged my sister tightly in my arms.

My parents came running towards me as well.

My father pounded me on the back, saying softly that he knew I'd come home some day.

My mother just hugged me and cried…I was gone for an entire year…and they all looked forward to the day I'd come home…I was really stupid…to leave such a nice family…

"Everyone…Kimura Yuuki…has come home…"

* * *

Author's Notes:

GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Congratulations! We have reached the end of my first Fan Fiction on this site! Thank you for seeing this to the end. We end spectacularly with Kuro or should I say, "Yuuki", saying goodbye to Mid-Childa and Subaru, and bravely returning home to his real family for the first time in a year. His name has been truly revealed! Yay! I really wish there's going to be a Season 4...the series is so awesome...I wonder if Any of you rewatched the anime after reading this?

I know some of you are thinking, "What?! The end!? But what about (insert topic here)?" I say too bad to that XD

Well its time for me to...huh?  
"Hold it right there!"  
What the...?  
"This isn't over quite yet!"  
What? How the hell did you get here?  
"Gag him before he leaves!"  
HMMPH!?  
"Our identities are a secret but we're the good guys!"  
"We're here to tell you all it's NOT just done yet!"  
"We're going to force him to do a little more before this truly ends!"  
"In the mean time, please leave a review and message this account with any questions you had during this Fiction."  
"We are going to do a little 'talk show' like thing where we will answer all your questions!"  
"Lucky CH-...wait wrong thing...uh..."  
"MSLNL Omake Theatre!"  
"See you then!"  
Crap...they got away...well since they said it...I'll do a little Q&A session...not that its going to be that popular...with only 30 readers or something...just send questions VIA reviews or if you want to be anonymous, send me a message with the question.

I'll put it up when I feel like i have enough questions for a fun "story"

Until then...please continue with your semi-loyal support for my story...who knows, maybe something good may come out from a larger turnout?

_**"coughseqcoughquelcough"**_


	17. Chapter 16: Epilogue

Author's Notes:

None

* * *

**Epilogue**

"Yuu-kun! It's morning, wake up!" A loud voice called from outside my door.

"Kaa-san! I've been awake for half an hour already!" I yelled back.

"Really? That's a first," She said as she entered my room. "It's been three months since you've returned and you still haven't unpacked everything?"

"It's easier to find my stuff if I leave it all in one place!" I argued as I put on my school uniform.

"You're finally graduating from High School, huh? Ah…Mama thought she'd never see this day…"

That's right…for some reason, when Kasumi and I returned to Earth, only two weeks have past since I left for Mid-Childa with the Admiral. We think that the Devil Ärms did something to the planet before we left and returned it back to normal when we returned.

But it was all right, it meant we didn't miss any of our classes and it was like we just went somewhere overseas for our vacation.

"Did you tell your friends overseas about your graduation?" my mom asked me as she looked at the group picture Kasumi insisted we take before we left Mid-Childa.

"No, I couldn't contact them after I got back," I mumbled as I straightened my tie.

The only person Kasumi and I managed to contact was the Admiral so I could give him a status report on my condition. Kasumi also seemed to ask him about "something" that she didn't want me to know about, but apparently that "something" was going to happen soon…

"They must have been really good friends to you."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you came home after you got back from your trip and you look so much more mature now."

"Yeah…they were the best…"

"Well, come downstairs after you're finished dressing."

As she left and closed the door behind her, I put the picture back on my dresser where I had placed my other important memories. The first one was of Kasumi, Kyo and me sitting on a bench together, the second one was of me and my friends here on Earth, the third one was a recent one my mom took of us after I moved back in, the fourth one was the one with everyone at Section Six…and the last one was the one of Subaru and I smiling at Kasumi, who was holding the camera, during the farewell party.

Our last picture together…I sighed a bit and smiled. I wonder how she's doing?

Ah! Not good, I'm going to be late for the ceremony!

I grabbed my watch and put it on before running towards my door.

Wait!

I stopped and jumped towards my nightstand and opened the top drawer. I can't believe I forgot about these…

I took out Subaru and Kasumi's gemstones along with Kyo's harmonica, which still works.

"Kyo, I finally got it right, the song's meaning…your feelings towards the world. I can finally play the song properly." I placed next to his picture and clapped my hands together.

I put the gemstones on and saluted the pictures.

"Well everyone, I'm heading off now!"

As I headed down the stairs Sakura stopped me at the base of the stairs.

"Hey, Onii-chan! Can you play me that song again?" she asked.

"Maybe after school, I have to hurry!" I said as I kissed her on the cheek and grabbed some food off of the table and headed for the door.

"Aww…"

"Don't worry! I have all the time I want to spend with you now!"

"Yep!"

Her smile filled my heart as I ran down the driveway towards my school.

It was good to be back home.

The End…

* * *

Author's Notes:

None


	18. MSLNL: OMAKE Special

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha LegendS Theatre!

**Harouki:** Hello! And welcome to the MSLNL Theatre! Here, I let you, my readers, know everything that wasn't told in the Fan Fiction. However, it's no fun to do it alone, so let me introduce my guests! The three leading characters of the story! Kuro, or should I say Yuuki, Kasumi and of course…Subaru!

**Yuuki:** Yo!

**Kasumi:** Thank you for having us here today!

**Subaru:** Um…is it okay for me to be here? I'm the only unoriginal character here…

**Yuuki: **Don't worry about it! We're not going to shun you out because of that.

**Harouki:** Of course, you're the heroine after all.

**Kasumi:** Although I bet half of the readers thought that _I_ was supposed to be the heroine.

**Harouki: **Yes, yes, childhood friends seem to always get together in these types of things, don't they?

**Yuuki: **Which brings us to our first question from our readers, "Did you ever consider Kasumi as Kuro's true love interest?" Hahaha…I'm still being called "Kuro" even though my real name has already been revealed…

**Subaru: **Well, people are just used to seeing it.

**Yuuki: **I hate being called Yuuki anyways, it sounds too feminine…

**Harouki:** Well, I chose it because I wanted to contradict your codename, and Yuuki sounds like snow in Japanese. Anyway to answer that question…yes I have. I had originally intended to have this story flow like a Visual Novel format where at the end of each chapter I'd let the readers vote for where the story would go…but I'm still a new writer so my stories would receive enough attention to do something like that so I ended doing it like it is now.

**Yuuki:** So I would have been something like an eroge protagonist? DAMN IT!! I LUCKED OUT!!

**Subaru:** Eroge? What's that?

Harouki/Yuuki: Nothing a minor should worry about!!

**Kasumi:** Boys…

**Harouki:** Hahaha! Well let's pop in a song before moving on! How about Seikan Hikou by Nakajima Megumi?

inserts disc into player

**Yuuki:** Huh…not too shabby.

**Subaru:** "Nakajima?"

**Kasumi:** Don't worry, I'm sure it's no one your related too…

**Harouki:** If anyone is interested, I can send you the song.

**Kasumi: **Moving on…

**Yuuki: **Right, Next question: "There were a few references that Kuro (haha Kuro again…) made during certain situations…what were they?"

** Harouki:** Well I changed the name of any anime I referenced, while still leaving them very close to the original name. The one where we walks into Teana changing in the infirmary, he referenced the oh so ancient yet still fun to read series, "Love Hina" by Ken Akumatsu. The one where he walks into the scene of Teana…uh…how should I put it…? "harassing" Subaru in their room was based of a scene in Zero no Tsukaima Futatsuki no Kishi. There was also an unnamed reference of hammers in chapter 6. It was based off of the popular web comic El Goonish Shive.

**Kasumi: **Those are some pretty oktauish references there.

**Harouki:** Hey, I'm your creator, respect me!

**Kasumi: **Whatever…

**Subaru:** Um…please don't fight.

**Yuuki: **Next question! "Why does Kuro get hurt so often?" Finally! I can get to hear the well thought out answer for why I have to deal with so much pain every single chapter during this longwinded story…

**Harouki: **Because I thought it'd be funny. Next question!

**Yuuki: **WHAT?! That's it?! I went through all of that just because you tried to be funny?!

**Harouki: **Yep. I explained early on in my "Author's Notes" that I wanted to try portraying a main character who's also the comic relief character. Sucks to have been you.

**Yuuki: **Why you damn…

**Harouki: **Be happy that this was a Romance themed story and not a tragedy themed one! You ended with a nice girlfriend instead of being six-feet under.

**Yuuki: **…

**Subaru: **…

**Kasumi: **Hahaha, look at you two lovebirds, blushing as you look at each other!

**Yuuki:** I-it's not my fault! It's his!

**Harouki: **Just because I built your character, doesn't mean I can control it during this dimension.

**Yuuki: **What you mean on the other side of your laptop screen? You're the one who wrote this!

**Harouki:** We're already chipping at the Fourth Wall here, don't shatter it…

**Yuuki: **What are you talking about? We already broke it the moment we set foot in this place!

**Kasumi: **Let's continue while the "Hero" and the author argue like kids. Subaru, why don't you read the next one?

**Subaru: **Okay! "This story could have easily had a Teana or Vita ending…why Subaru?"

**Harouki:** …

**Kasumi: **…

**Yuuki: **…

**Subaru:** …

**Harouki:** Well…this is an awkward atmosphere…ahem…well I thought about that as well. At the beginning it seemed like it was YuukixTeana wasn't it? That's because the majority of the episodes in StrikerS dealt with Teana's relationship with Section 6, so I had to mold the story around there, and Vita was just for more comic relief and pain moments for Yuuki.

**Yuuki: **Ass hole…

**Harouki: **But that's the official reason why it wasn't Teana or Vita.

**Kasumi: "**Official Reason?"

**Harouki: **My choice was purely a personal one. After scrapping the idea I immediately thought that Subaru would make the perfect candidate. She was the only character in the entire anime that openly showed her emotions, therefore it made it easier to bring the two together. Tsunderes are fun characters to write, but a little annoying since they always deny themselves and never really get along with the main character until they get all blushy at them…DON'T KILL ME!!

**Kasumi: **GET OVER HERE!!

**Subaru: **K-Kasumi-chan! C-calm down!

**Yuuki:** Hey Subaru! Don't hold on to her, let the great Author feel the pain of physical humor for once.

**Harouki: **YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!! NOT A CHAIR!! DAMN IT YUU!! I'll remember this!

**Subaru:** "Yuu?"

**Yuuki: **Apparently that's my nickname. Well while Harouki's being occupied, let's continue. "How did you come up with this storyline?" Oh Kasumi, done already?

**Kasumi: **Of course not, but we need to get on with this.

**Harouki:** Pain…hurt…

**Subaru: **Um…Sensei, we need your answer…

**Harouki: **R-right…Well basically, the inspiration came from something I'm sure any anime fan feels when they're watching their favorite anime. "I want to be in there with them," or something along those lines. So I put myself in the story in the shoes of Yuuki here.

**Yuuki:** Wait…so I'm supposed to be you?

**Harouki: **Yep. Basically I created you and you're my clone in the Nanoha Universe.

**Yuuki:** I'm…supposed to be…this idiot…? NOOOOOOOOO!

**Subaru: **Y-Yuuki-kun! Calm down!

**Kasumi: **Don't bring out a freaking sword in the studio, you idiot!!

**Yuuki: **NOOOOO! I might as well just die!

**Harouki: **Well that will keep them busy for a while…next question: "Who is your favorite character in StrikerS?" Haha, that's easy! First and foremost, it has got to be Takamachi Vivio! She's just about the cutest little loli you can find anywhere, that's the whole reason I wanted to watch the Nanoha series in the first place. But when it came to StrikerS, I almost cried since my precious lolis grew up…but Vivio filled that void up. The Few, The Proud, The Lolicon! In fact, our official theme song is on Youtube. Simply search "Boku wa Lolicon and scroll down to the one with English Subbed in its title. Of course, after Vivio, Subaru is my favorite. She's pretty much an all in one package. Cute, funny, sexy, boyish…ahh…and she should be in Middle School in Japan…completely my type.

**Kasumi: **Die, scum…

**Harouki: **NOT THE FACE! NOT THE FACE!

**Subaru:** And last but not least, the last question is…"Any plans for a sequel?"

**Kasumi: **…

**Yuuki:** …

**Subaru: **…

**Harouki: **…what? I just wrote 116 pages in 2 months and you people want me to do a sequel already? Look at all the other authors who have a huge break period! Writer's apathy sucks doesn't it? But the answer is YES. I WANT to do a sequel but it's going to be a bit hard, so dun expect an update every few days like last time. Completely original material is tough. Anyways, look for a new story soon!

**Kasumi/Yuuki/Subaru/Harouki:** We hope to see you all again soon!


End file.
